Aokigahara Girl
by Aleksandryna-Zinnaella
Summary: A fourteen year old otaku moves to Narusawa, where she finds an injured Kirin. Through nursing it, she befriends other Yokai and has to keep them a secret from her family and her new onmyoji friends. Full summary inside. Hopefully better than it sounds. Rated T for violence and some themes which may be inappropriate for children.
1. Chapter 1

**Full Summary: ****When her family move to Narusawa, fifteen-year-old otaku Korin Belododia couldn't be happier. Her father's work as a psychiatrist and counselor means that she finally gets to see one of the Yokai hotspots of Japan. One day, when Korin ventures into the Aokigahara forest in search of Yokai, she finds what she's looking for, but not in the way she expects. a young Kirin laying half-dead by the path, badly injured. She takes it upon herself to nurse it back to health without anyone else finding out, gaining the trust of the other Yokai as she does so. Will she be able to keep her spirit friends a secret, or will they be discovered and carted off for experiments in the name of science?**

**A/N: The protagonist's family are English-speaking. Therefore, I need a way to diffrentiate between the languages they are speaking. If they are speaking Japanese, it will be written in **normal** text. If they are speaking anything other than Japanese, it will be written in **_italics_**. Thank you, and please enjoy the story!**

Chapter One

I step out of the taxi and grin broadly as I take in a deep breath of air- clean, fresh, country-side air, not like in London- twirling around and giggling in my elation. I'm finally here! Finally in Narusawa, my new hometown at the foot of Mount Fuji. What I saw of Tokyo was nice, but the air was as bad as in London- so bad, in fact, that I had to use my inhaler no less than seven times while I was there, from leaving the airport to getting to the train station.

Lost in my own otaku happiness, I don't notice that people are beginning to stare.

"Stop it, sis. You're embarrassing me." I stop spinning and stumble, slightly dizzy, towards the source of the voice, my eleven year old brother Xander. He's staring at me, an embarrassed flush lighting his porcelain cheeks and his big brown eyes pleading.

"Why should I hide my true self?" I ask, before poking my tongue out at him.

"He's right, Korin. You should try not to stand out too much. We don't want a repeat of the- ahem- 'incident' in Vienna, do we?" my father, Claudiu, says softly, raising his slender eyebrows slightly as he places a gentle hand on my shoulder.

My older brother, Jase, snorts, "We've barely been here five minutes and you're already getting told off. That's a first, even for you, Korey." I shrug off my father's hand and turn to glare at Jase.

"I swear to Yaoi, Jase, if you call me 'Korey' one more time I will-"

"Don't, Korin. It's not worth it." My twin brother Ezra says in barely more than a whisper, sliding his hand into mine and squeezing it slightly. I glance across at him and see calm reassurance in his silver-grey eyes.

"You're right, Ezra. I'll just have to get him back when he least expects it." I smile sweetly as Jase as I speak. Dad shakes his head.

"You two are impossible. Why couldn't you just get on, the way Ez and Xand do?" he asks as he scoops up his and Xander's suitcases. "Let's just get into the house. You can go into the garden to rip each other apart." I squeal excitedly.

"I can't believe we're actually in Japan!" I exclaim, punching the air and flashing a peace sign as I wink and turn my baseball cap back to front, Ash Ketchum style.

"Can you please leave the fangirling until we get into the house?" Jase asks, "That way, people won't realise my sister's a freak."

"I'm not a freak, I'm an otaku." I say, picking up my suitcase.

"You can argue when we get to the house. It's literally about thirty seconds away." Dad says, and begins to walk down the road towards what I recognise from the photos I've seen as our new house. Xander runs after him, smiling, and Ezra follows. Jase and I glare at each other before walking after them.

"Doesn't otaku mean 'crazy, obsessed nerd'?" Jase asks, and I roll my eyes.

"Technically, yes. But it's as much a label as anything else. Like how you're a prep, Ezra's a loner and Xander's a jock-in-training." We now discover that Dad was right: our house was only thirty seconds away. Dad drops the two suitcases and delves into his pocket, pulling out a key. He inserts it into the keyhole and turns it, before pushing the door open. He stands to the side, and gestures for us to enter.

"Bedrooms are first come, first serve, and two of you will be doubling up." When he mentions doubling up, his eyes flicker towards Jase so quickly I'm not sure if he actually did. In our last few homes, Jase was known as a bit of a player, so Dad will probably get him to double up as a deterrent for impressionable girls.

Xander sprints into the house, and the race is on. I run in, lose time unlacing and taking off my riding boots. I run in the opposite direction to my brothers and open every door I pass. Finally, I find a room containing a bed. I guess it belonged to a boy the last time a family lived here, because the wallpaper is dark blue and still adorned with posters from some of the greatest Shonen animes of all time: Naruto, Pokémon, Death Note… I like the person who used to have this room.

I dump my suitcase on the bed and open it. I pull out my t-shirts and sort them into three categories: fandom, plain and other. I open the wardrobe and slide each pile into a separate section of the hanging clothes holder thingy. I continue to sort and put away the few clothes I have until my suitcase is empty.

I slip my hand around the curtains and open the window slightly, letting in a cool breeze. I start to look around the room at the things its previous owner left behind. There are a few Pokémon figurines on the mantelpiece, alongside a plastic Pokéball. I walk back to the wardrobe and look inside. At the bottom sits a small wooden box. I open it as slowly and carefully as I can.

Seeing what's inside, I gasp. A pile of photos, all of similar things, and all with scribbles on them. Yokai. Every single picture is of a Yokai. Some of them have the species written on them, but most just have a question mark or a vague category. 'Bakemono', 'Yurei', 'Tsukumogami'. A tingle of fear lights up in my body, electrifying me. One of the things I was most excited about when I discovered we were moving here was that it's so close to a Yokai hotspot. Now I have photos of them, as well as inspiration to find them. I squeal excitedly and begin leafing through the photos, trying to take in as much information as possible.

I'm jolted sharply out of my studying by my bedroom door flying open. In the doorway, Xander groans.

"No fair, Korey. This is a boy bedroom, and you stole it from me." I turn to look at him, raising my eyebrows.

"I believe Dad said it was first come, first serve. You should have been faster." I say, shrugging.

"But I was faster! I got a room, but then Jase came and threw me out of it!"

I sigh, "I'm sure Ezra won't mind you sharing with him. This is my room, and I'm going to fill it with anime merchandise and cover the walls with pictures of Hetalians and Vocaloids. As long as you're okay with that, you can share with me, but I think Ezra would be a better roommate." Xander hangs his head.

"Sorry, Korey." he says, and then giggles. "That rhymes!" I shake my head and hold my arms out for a hug. Xander snuggles into my chest, his brown curls tickling my neck.

"We'll be happy here, and Dad will get lots of business, and then we'll be able to go back to London. For real, this time."

"You won't want to go back, Korin. You can watch the animes when they first come out here." Xander says, his voice muffled slightly by the loose cotton t-shirt I'm wearing.

"I can always move back here when I'm older," I say, "I can be a Yokai expert and give guided tours of the forest." Xander giggles.

"You're such a nerd," he says, pulling out of the hug and stepping backwards. He glances towards the box of photos next to me and tilts his head to the side. "What are those?" I explain them to him, telling him some of what I know about each Yokai.

"I guess the person who had this room before me must have been into a lot of the same things as me. The posters were all here already." I say, and Xander's smile widens.

"That's so cool! Do you think there's any way to find the person who used to live here? You could be friends with them!" I smile at his excitement.

"I'm going to be studying these Yokai a lot, because I want to find them, so always make sure you knock on the door before you come in so that I can make sure you don't see anything scary. Xander nods.

"I will! I'm gonna find Ezra now. I can share with him." With that, he turns and races out of my room. I remember something.

"Take your shoes off, Xander!" I yell, hoping he hears me and does as I say. Now that I'm alone in my room, I can start studying these Yokai.

"We've got visitors, Korin. Dad says you have to socialise." Ezra says quietly, sliding the door open and sticking his head around it. I sigh, and nod, putting the lid on my pen and setting it down on top of my notebook, still full of my class notes from my old school in London. I push myself to my feet and walk to the door.

"How do you like the house?" I ask Ezra, and he shrugs.

"It's okay. We need to get a piano, though." I shake my head, laughing, as the two of us begin to walk towards the living room.

"You're obsessed." I say, and Ezra raises his eyebrows at me.

"My relationship with pianos is no different from your relationship with anime," he chuckles, shoving me lightly. "What were you making notes on just then?"

"Yokai." I say, smirking as Ezra face-palms.

"Of course you were." Ezra slides open a door and I can already see him beginning to shrink into himself. He steps into the room and I follow. Dad, Xander and Jase all turn to look at us, as well as five people I've never met, a forty-something couple and three people around our age who I guess are their children.

"There you are, Korin. I thought we agreed on the plane that you would all be back in here by seven o'clock." Dad says, his tone teasing, and I wave my hand slightly.

"I was studying." I say, and he raises his eyebrows, but doesn't comment.

"Anyway, Korin, this is the Akiyama family. They live next door," he turns to the family of five. "This is my daughter, Korin." The only female child, who seems to be close to my age, smiles and waves at me.

"Hey! I'm Megumi," she says, her voice bubbly and her tone cheerful. "How old are you?"

"Fifteen." I say, and Megumi grins.

"Me too! Will you be going to Subarashi Gakuen?" I nod. "That's where I go! You'll be in my class. We've been told we've got two new people coming. I can show you around!" I nod, hoping my nervousness about being around someone as open and bubbly as Megumi isn't showing.

"That sounds great. Thank you." Megumi proceeds to introduce me to her brothers, Satoshi (sixteen years old, already making friends with Jase) and Takeshi (Megumi's twin, almost as quiet as Ezra but clearly not as shy).

"You don't happen to know who lived here before us, do you?" I ask, and the Akiyamas all visibly tense. Takeshi sighs.

"The last family lived here about six years ago. They'd moved from Ireland a few years before. They were a young couple- in their early thirties- and they had a son and a daughter. The boy was eleven, and the girl nine. The boy spent all his time either out in the forest, taking photos, or locked in his room, studying yokai. One night, he didn't come home at the time he was supposed to, and his parents went out looking for him, leaving his sister at home. She snuck out to try and find him and…" he closes his eyes, trailing off. "And… The boy was returned home safely, but his sister was found dead the next day, her body intact, aside from the finger-shaped bruises on her neck. The coroner said it was murder. The culprit still hasn't been caught. A few weeks later, the boy was found dead, too. He had killed himself out of grief and guilt over his sister's death. She'd been trying to find him, so he thought it was his fault." I feel a tear slide down my cheek when I hear the story. The boy who used to have my room killed himself. The fact that his parents let him become miserable enough for that to happen makes me feel sick.

"Why did you want to know?" Satoshi asks, his tone bright and cheerful, but forced. He was probably friends with the boy. I shake my head.

"No reason." I say, and Xander points at me.

"Liar!" he accuses, and then turns to Satoshi. "She found photos of yokai in a box in her room and she started studying them."

"Do you like yokai?" Megumi asks, her voice suddenly icy. I nod slightly.

"I think they're pretty cool. They must get lonely, though, what with everyone being afraid of them." I say truthfully. Five pairs of eyes lock onto me, each holding obvious disapproval.

Jase laughs nervously, "You should probably shut up now, Korin. The Akiyamas are onmyoji." he says in English, and understanding clicks in my mind. Of course onmyoji would hate the fact that I like yokai.

"Oh," I say. "Sorry." Megumi shakes her head.

"It's fine, Korin-san. You've probably just seen animes with yokai as protagonists and thought they were like that in real life." she says, and my brothers burst out laughing, causing looks of confusion to form on the Akiyamas' faces.

"I believe, Megumi, that you just summed up my daughter in one sentence." Dad says, a hint of amusement in his voice. The Akiyamas all relax visibly. Satoshi turns back to his conversation with Jase, and I catch a few of the words they mutter. Satoshi seems to be just as much of a 'ladies' man' as Jase, and they're already discussing flirting tactics. Xander seems to be trying to talk to Takeshi, who is obviously dandere.

"So, Korin-san, what animes do you like?" Megumi asks, poking my cheek. I grin and release myself into full fangirl mode.

**A/N: I hope you enjoyed the first chapter! I already have up to chapter 24 written, and I've got more posted on Wattpad. I won't post it all at once, though. Either every day or every other day. Yay! I won't ask you to review, because I hardly ever do, but all comments are welcome! Also, before correcting my spelling, please bear in mind that I am English and therefore use British English rather than American English. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it and decide to read on!**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

The cheerful chirp of a bird startles Xander and he lets out a high-pitched speak of fear, grabbing onto my arm and squeezing it hard.

"Korin," he says shakily, and I turn to look at him, "I'm scared." I didn't need him to say it out loud for me to realise. His eyes are wide, his pupils dilated and his lower lip trembles as spherical beads of sweat roll down his face. I slide my hand into his and tilt his chin up to look him directly in the eyes.

"It's okay, Xander. I've got you. You're safe." I say, smiling in a way that I hope is reassuring to him. A small smile flickers across his face momentarily. I'm not surprised by his fear. It's only natural for his to be afraid. It is, after all, his first time in the Aokigahara forest, a hotspot for both suicides and yokai.

I begin to walk- slowly, for Xander's sake- deeper into the forest. He's on edge. Every noise sets his mind alight. I inwardly curse Takeshi for telling the story of the family who used to live in our house in front of Xander. With every step we take, Xander presses himself further into my body, closer and closer into what he thinks is safety.

Something rustles in a bush and Xander begins to literally tremble with fear.

"I want to go back." he says quietly, his voice cracking and tears rolling down his cheeks, and I nod. I pull him into a hug with one arm as I slide my phone out of my pocket to text Ezra. Fortunately, I have a signal. I pull up my last conversation with Ezra and begin to type.

_Xander's scared. Can u come get him? I want to stay a bit longer._ It takes about thirty seconds to send the message because of the poor signal. Xander and I trudge slowly back the way we came along the path until my phone buzzes to tell me I have a message. I check my phone and see that it's a reply from Ezra.

_Yup, sure. Meet at edge of forest in five._ I smile and send him a smiley face to show I got his text. I scoop Xander up in my arms, fortunate that he's small for his age.

Ezra gets to the edge of the forest before me. I smile, hug him, and shove Xander at him before smiling, waving and running back into the forest. Now I can properly explore. I twirl around, letting my hair fly out around me. It's not plaited today, and it flies freely around me and gets caught in trees, meaning I often have to stop and untangle it.

Deeper and deeper into the forest I go, pretending I'm not lost. To be honest, I don't really care if I get lost. I can find someone watching out for suicides and ask them for directions.

My bliss is broken by quiet whimpering. It's quite distant, but it sounds like someone is badly hurt. I run towards the source of the sound and find… Some strange… Thing… Familiarity fills me, and I know it's a Yokai. It looks like some sort of horse or deer, except that it has scales. Its flowing mane glistens golden in the sunlight which is slightly filtered through the leaves of the trees. I gasp and crouch down beside it. It has a large… Something caught around its leg, and blood is spurting out of the wound. My fingers brush against its mane and a shudder ripples through its body.

"It's okay…" I whisper, "I'll take care of you…" I stroke it in a way that I hope is calming to the poor beast as I try to recall what it is. I know I've seen it before, in the photos belonging to the boy who killed himself.

A slight whimpering bleat from the animal causes recognition to click in my mind. It's a Kirin! I inwardly chastise myself. My first thought when I was researching them was how similar their name was to mine. I should have remembered sooner.

"It's okay, little Kirin. You'll be safe. I'm going to go and get some bandages, but I'll come back to take care of you. That's a promise." I try to keep my voice steady. I've found a Yokai! I don't let myself rejoice. I can't rest until this Kirin has recovered. I lean down and gently kiss the Kirin's forehead, just below its horns, before standing up and trying to find my way out of the forest.

What feels like an eternity passes as I try to find my way out. Eventually, I am stopped by someone looking out for potential suicides and I am asked why I'm in the forest alone.

"I've just moved to Narusawa with my family," I tell the man, "And I wanted to explore the forest. I got lost, though. Could you tell me how to get back?" The man smiles kindly and looks relieved. He leads me back to the edge of the forest and we part ways. His shift doesn't end for another hour or two.

I skip happily back to my house, getting a few odd looks from people my age and younger. I ignore them and continue happily on my way home. I see a few faces which are already familiar, namely Jase and Satoshi teaming up to hit on a group of girls. The girls run away giggling about 'Western Charm' and I sigh. We've been here two nights and Jase is already getting a reputation as a player. Jase and Satoshi high-five each other, and Satoshi catches my eye and winks at me across the street. He sprints across the road without looking, and Jase follows him. I pick up my speed. I don't want to have to talk to an onmyoji when I'm doing exactly the opposite of what the Akiyamas have already drilled us on what to do if we find a Yokai.

When I reach my house, I slide the door open and kick my shoes off before making my way as quietly as possible into the kitchen, where I climb onto the side to reach the medicine cabinet. Dad made sure it was the highest cupboard so that Jase and Xander couldn't reach it, as Jase can't be trusted with medicine and Xander would put plasters on everything if he could, although it unfortunately means that Ezra and I can't reach it either. I open the door and begin to rummage around in an attempt at finding the bandages.

I grin triumphantly and almost fall off of the counter as I pull the bandage roll out of the cupboard. I shut the cabinet door and jump down from the counter before pulling a pair of scissors out of one of the draws. I slide the bandage roll and the scissors into my pocket and run back to the entrance hall. I slip my shoes back on (or, more correctly, fumble with my laces for about five minutes) and sprint out of the house and back towards the forest.

As soon as I'm back under the cover of the trees and the injured Kirin is in sight again, I realise something. I have absolutely no idea how the hell I'm supposed to put on a bandage.

"I'm back, little Kirin." I say, and the Kirin lifts its head slightly. I pull the bandage roll and scissors out of my pocket and try to smile. With trembling hands, I unroll the bandage and place it next to the Kirin's injured leg.

Slowly, ever so slowly, I prise away the thing that's digging into the poor creature's leg. It appears to be a trap of some sort, with tooth-like serregated ridges. Once the contraption is removed, blood flows thicker and faster than before. The Kirin gives a piteous howl, and I feel a tear make its way down my cheek. I quickly begin to wrap the bandage around the open wound which gapes widely like a mouth screaming in agony. The Kirin stares at me, its beautiful golden eyes fixed unblinking, pain and terror shining in them. I need to do something to calm it, so I do the only thing I can think of: I start singing 'Yellow Moon' by Akeboshi.

"_Kinou wa call sign, _

_Zenbu, keitai de _

_Norenai fuzz guitar _

_Hen na kouen de_."

It's a soft, gentle, song, and I've used it as a lullaby for Xander many times when he's had nightmares. The Kirin blinks a couple of times and lowers its head. I smile slightly as I sing, glad that my years of singing lessons have paid off.

"_Muchuu de motor bike, _

_Kaze wo oikoshite _

_Mikazuki wa hisuterii, _

_Boku no ue de _

_Chikyuu wa goorurain, _

_Inu mo raion mo _

_Kasei ni moving on. _

_Nanka mendou de._"

When the bandage is padded out enough that the blood hasn't soaked through the last few layers, I cut the bandage roll and try to figure out what I'm supposed to do with the loose end. I decide to try and tuck it into the top of the bandage. I'm glad that my fingers are roughly the thickness of twigs (a slight exaggeration, perhaps, but I _am_ too thin). I stroke the Kirin's head softly as I continue to sing. If my brothers saw me now, they'd accuse me of being an imposter. I never normally try to nurse people, and I don't sing in front of anyone but my old singing teacher, Fiona.

After running through every calm Japanese song I know (mostly Naruto endings, for some strange reason), I glance at my watch and swear loudly. I've been here for at least seven hours. My family are probably starting to worry, and I guess that they'll probably have a search party sent out soon, if they haven't already. Or maybe they haven't even noticed I'm not at home. Ezra is probably online trying to find a piano to buy, Xander's probably trying to make friends with the kids in the village, and Jase is most definitely flirting with some poor girl.

I sigh and stand up, then realise that I can't leave the Kirin here. Someone will find it, and call an onmyoji to have it killed. I need to move it to safety.

I bend down and put my arms underneath its body, trying to scoop it up in my arms. It's heavy, and I almost drop it, but I finally manage to get it into a secure-ish position so that I can carry it.

I walk about fifty metres to a large, thick bush and slide it under the soft green leaves.

"I'll come back to check on you tomorrow, Kirin." I say, and the Kirin lets out a small noise of… Thanks? I'm not sure, but it sounds grateful. I smile and plant a kiss on its forehead.

I walk back to the edge of the forest, glad that I've remembered the way this time.

Just as I leave the shade of the trees, I think I hear someone whisper, "Thank you, healer," before the rustle of leaves carried by the wind drowns out the almost silent voice. I look around, but there's no one there. I walk home alone in silence, stunned but proud. A smile makes its way onto my face. I may have just saved a life.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

I walk down the corridor to the dining room and enter. Xander and Ezra turn to look at me with concern in their eyes.

"_Where were you, Kor_?" Ezra asks, and I shrug.

"_Exploring the forest. I'm not sure exactly _where I was_, but I enjoyed myself_." Jase raises his eyebrows.

"_Seriously? You've been in the forest all that time?_" he asks, and I nod. "_Why don't I believe you?_" Dad enters the room carrying a large pot with steam coming off the top. I sniff the air and grin. Dad's really trying to get into the culture, so much so that he's cooked us ramen for dinner. He places the pot down in the middle of the table and takes each of our bowls in turn, asking us how much we want. Jase wrinkles his nose in disgust. The only ramen he's ever tasted is the one that I made in food technology class when I was twelve, and he got food poisoning from it. Xander has a bigger portion than I've ever seen him have of anything else, and Ezra beats his usually tiny appetite and has a normal size portion, which is about twice the amount he usually eats. Jase asks if he can just have bread instead, and Dad lets him, which surprises me. He normally won't let us have anything other than what he's cooked unless we all want the same thing.

"_How much, Korin?_" Dad asks me after he's served everyone else, including himself.

I grin, "_All of it._" Dad shakes his head and gives a portion about twice the size of anyone else's.

"_You can have more once you've finished that, Korin._" he says. I nod, grinning broadly.

"Itadakimasu!" I yell before picking up my chopsticks and beginning to eat.

We eat in silence, occasionally sharing 'I-really-hate-you' looks or calling each other idiots for choking on our food.

"_I'm going to ask now, while I've got all of you here,_" Dad begins, and the four of us share a nervous glance. "_I got a papercut earlier, and when I was looking for a plaster, I discovered that the bandage roll was gone. I want to know who took it and why._" No one speaks, but Jase looks at me. I focus on breathing normally so that I don't give myself away by freaking and needing to use my inhaler.

"_It wasn't me._" I lie calmly with a slight shrug and a mouthful of noodles.

"_I checked back in the medicine cabinet when I was cooking, and saw that it had been returned, but it had shrunk considerably. The cutting was very sloppy, which leads me to believe that Ezra is not the culprit." _Xander looks nervous. He knows that he didn't do it, but he's obviously worried in case he gets blamed.

"_It was probably Korin,_" Jase says, and Ezra frowns at him. "_She left and then came back for a couple of minutes and then left again. Satoshi said that he saw her going into the forest with her pockets bulging._"

"_Is this true, Korin?_" Dad asks, and I sigh. Ezra and Xander are both glaring daggers at Jase. Normally when one of us has done something wrong, we pretend that none of us have any idea who it was, even if it's really obvious who did it. I nod.

"_I found a deer with its leg caught in a trap, and I wanted to help it._" I say, only half-lying. Dad sighs.

"_You should have just owned up to it, Korin. You're not going to get in trouble for helping someone in need. You're a Belododia, and we've been helping people for generations. Just tell me next time so that I can get a new roll in case one of us gets hurt._" he says, and I sigh with relief. "_But don't think you're getting off so lightly, young lady. You still get a seven day computer ban for lying._" I groan and Jase smirks at me. I feel my anger rising and I want nothing more than to punch that smug smirk off his pathetic face.

"_You're a total prick,_" Ezra says to Jase, "_I hope you know that._" My eyes widen. Ezra never swears or insults people.

"_Don't use those sorts of words, Ezra._" Dad says calmly. Xander giggles.

"_Ezra got told off! Ezra got told off!_" he sings teasingly, and Dad gives him the _Alexander James Belododia, stop teasing your brother_ look, which shuts him up instantly.

I scarf down the rest of my ramen and excuse myself from the table, running to my bedroom to try and come up with a plan of action for looking after the Kirin.

After twenty or so minutes of fruitless searching through my books, my phone vibrates on the bedside table. I reach over and pick it up, switching the screen on and unlocking it by swiping between the dots in the shape of a 'Y'. I smile when I see that I have a Snapchat message from someone. I open Snapchat and grin when I see who it's from: Connor, the boy I sat next to in Physics and History for four years. I open it and laugh when I see a picture of him pulling an 'ugly' face. The caption reads _Having fun in Yaoi Land?_ I shake my head at the typical Connor face and attitude. I reply with a photo of one of the Yokai photos from the boy who killed himself, captioning it _Great, but I'm already banned from the computer._ I follow it up straight away with another Yokai photo with the caption _Can you look something up for me?_

I glance at my watch and sigh. It's 8pm here, which means it's Midday in London. Connor will be on his way to gymnastics, like he always is on a Saturday at this time. I won't get a response for at least two hours, and I don't know how long it took for his Snapchat to get to me.

I continue to look through my books, searching desperately for anything that could help me to nurse the Kirin. I briefly consider asking Megumi for help, but I decide against it when I remember the way she looked at me on the first night when she found out that I like Yokai. There's no way she would tell me how to care for one. She probably doesn't know, because she's only been taught how to kill them. I frown angrily. She would tell me to kill it, or she would kill it herself. How could anyone do that to such a beautiful creature? Kirin are pure and gentle. They walk without flattening blades of grass or killing insects and are strictly herbivores. They deserve better. I feel a small tear roll down my cheek at the injustice Yokai receive from humans who only care about themselves.

I read and re-read, pouring over the seemingly endless pages until it's dark outside and my eyes sting from the strain of reading in such low light. A hand beats a sequence of six rhythmic thuds on my bedroom door.

"_Come in._" I say, and the door slides open with a quiet creak. Ezra is standing in the doorway, his hands fiddling nervously with his blue _Hard Rock Cafe_ t-shirt and his chocolate brown eyes looking anywhere but at me.

"_H-hey, Korin…_" Ezra begins, but trails off to an almost silent mumble the moment he starts to say whatever it is he's saying. As he 'speaks', his eyes flicker between me and the floor. I sigh.

"_What's wrong?_" I ask, trying to make eye contact. "_Did Dad send you to take away my electronics?_" Ezra shakes his head.

"_I was just wondering if…_" Once again, his voice shrinks to nothing. I sigh.

"_Let me guess…_" I say, and Ezra glances at me, shocked. "_You've found a piano you want to buy, and you need me to give you some money because you can't afford it._" Ezra blushes bright red and develops a sudden interest in the SasuNaru fan art on my wall. I snigger and roll my eyes. Ezra's so predictable. He speaks normally and with confidence to me, unless Dad's told him to get something from me, or he wants something.

I get up off of my bed and walk over to my chest of draws. I check that Ezra is still looking the other way before I scroll the correct combination onto the locked box on top of it. I flip the lid open and take out the key marked _3_. I crouch down and slip the key into the keyhole of the third draw down and twist it. When a small click signals that it's unlocked, I pull the draw open. I let my fingers move around inside the draw until they settle on my SNK wallet. Pulling the wallet out of the draw, I glance over my shoulder to see Ezra staring at me, his eyebrows raised questioningly.

"_You _already _have locks on your draws?_" he asks exasperatedly.

"_You really expect me to leave my stuff in the open with Jase around?_" Ezra thinks for a moment, then shrugs, nodding. "_How much do you need?_"

"_Well… I have ¥11783._"

"_And the piano costs how much?_"

"_... ¥27100_."

"_You want me to give you ¥15317?_" I ask after quickly working it out in my head. Ezra nods slowly, looking more worried than he should. I sigh and take out three ¥5000 notes and a ¥500 coin. I stand and walk across the room towards Ezra. I take his hand, unfold his fist and press the money into it.

"_Thank you so much, Korin,_" he says with a grateful smile, "_I'll pay you back as soon as I can._"

I nod, "_You'd better. You owe me big time for this, Ez._" Ezra grins, hugs me, and walks out of my bedroom, probably to give the money to Dad so that he'll buy the piano. Of course, there is a downside to getting a piano. Dad will try to make me take up lessons again. I shudder and try to push the thought out of my mind. I do up my wallet and put it back into the draw. I lock the draw and put the key back, then I sit back down on my bed and return to my books once more, reading until I drift into an uneasy sleep filled with Yokai suffering in man-made traps, each one of them slowly dying.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

I let a small smile find its way onto my face as Megumi squeals with excitement for what seems like the millionth time today. I feel my smile disintegrate and my muscles tense as Megumi wraps her arms around me and squeezes me. Our little group of four makes its way out of the school gates and towards the bus stop, only ten metres away.

Megumi, Takeshi, Ezra and I reach the bus stop and see that Jase and Satoshi are already there. When Megumi announces our arrival by glomping Satoshi, the two boys turn to us. Jase glares at me, while Satoshi winks in a way that I desperately hope isn't intended to be as flirtatious as it came across.

"How was your day, Korin-chan, Ezra-kun?" Satoshi asks cheerfully, sounding as though he actually cares how our day was (moments like these make me question how someone like Satoshi could be friends with someone like Jase). I nod.

"My day was good. The teachers were all really nice, and the other kids were all really welcoming." Satoshi smiles at me, then glances towards Ezra. He nods.

"W-what Korin said." he mumbles.

Satoshi grins broadly, "That's great. I'm glad you both like it here."

I turn to meet Jase's eyes with a slight frown, "How was your day, nii-chan?" I ask patronisingly, and Jase's glare deepens.

"It was good, Imouto." he says, putting emphasis on _Imouto_, as if he's trying to prove that him being older than me means he's more important.

"My day was great, thanks, Satoshi." Takeshi says sharply with a irked frown. Satoshi snorts and waves his hand dismissively.

"Good, good." he says. Megumi pouts.

"No one cares about my day!" she says with mock sadness. Satoshi rolls his eyes.

"Your day was probably 'Totally perfect!' yet again." he says teasingly, and Megumi grins.

"You know me too well." she says, and we all laugh.

We stay like that for a few minutes, just the six of us chatting and laughing, until the bus arrives. We all get on and show the driver our bus passes, and he looks slightly surprised when he sees my surname.

"Belododia?" he asks (although his 'accent' turns the _l _into an _r_), "Claudiu-sensei's daughter?" I nod, and the bus driver (_Chikao_, his name badge says) smiles at me. When he sees Ezra and Jase's passes, he gives them the same smile he gave me.

"What did Chikao-san ask you?" Megumi asks in a hushed whisper when we sit down at the back of the coach.

I shrug, "Just if I was Claudiu's daughter." Megumi nods in understanding.

"That would be why he gave you that smile," she says, and I tilt my head to the side questioningly. "He's being asking around trying to find a good counselor who's good with kids for his daughter for months. He's probably already booked her in for an appointment with your dad. If your dad's helping Akiko-chan, Chikao-san will probably give you loads of sweets. He gave me tons of Pocky when my mum got rid of the Aka-Manto that was haunting his bathroom." Megumi shudders slightly at the mention of the Aka-Manto. I feel my jaw drop.

"He had an Aka-Manto in his bathroom? Like, in his house?" I ask. Megumi nods, then smiles sadly.

"It killed his wife and two eldest daughters and hospitalised Akiko-chan before Chikao-san realised what it was and called my parents. Little Akiko-chan hasn't been the same since." she says. She turns her head so that she's looking out of the window and her left hand finds its way to her face. I wince and seriously regret asking about it. I glance behind me and see that the boys are being idiots in the five-seat back row. Some poor girl is trapped between Satoshi and Jase, although her enamored smile seems to be genuine. She must be insane, the poor thing.

Ezra slides the door open and steps into the house. With some trouble, I pull myself out of Megumi's hug. Jase and Satoshi do some sort of weird handshake thing and hug each other. I shake my head and step inside the house, kicking my shoes off and dumping my school bag.

"_We're home!_" I call, and Xander's sulking reply follows instantly.

"_Dad's with someone!_" he snaps, and Ezra and I share an exasperated look. Wherever we are, whichever home we're in, Xander always has a childish strop if Dad's with a customer.

"_If Mummy was here, she wouldn't be ignoring me._" I imitate Xander's most common bratty complaint in an undertone. Jase laughs loudly, and Ezra smiles and shakes his head. "_Race you to the kitchen!_" I say, then sprint towards the kitchen.

I throw the kitchen door open and skid on my knees across the floor to the fridge-freezer. I pull the freezer door open and close my eyes before sticking my hand in and pulling out a tub of ice-cream.

"_What are you doing, you utter weirdo?_" Xander asks, and I open my eyes as I turn to look at him. He's sitting on the counter on the other side of the kitchen with his hand in a box of Strawberry Pocky.

"_Lucky dip ice cream!_" I yell, punching the air, before checking what flavour ice cream I've taken out. "_Matcha green tea! Score!_" Xander frowns at me and turns his head away.

"_You're weird. I'm not related to you._" I pout at his 'harsh' words and stand up, kicking the freezer door shut as I do so. I reach up and take down a bowl, pull a spoon out of the draw, and begin to serve myself a large portion of ice cream. _It could do with some Sakura to soften the flavour, _I think, and open the freezer again. When I put the green tea ice cream back, I take out one of the tubs of Sakura flavour that the Akiyamas gave us, which they had left over from this year's Sakura season, almost six months ago. I scoop out about half of the tub and deposit it in my bowl. I quickly shove it back into the freezer, putting a spoonful into my mouth.

"_Pig._" Xander says, and a laugh from the doorway alerts us both to Jase's existence.

"_I wish I had your metabolism, Kor,_" Jase says, shaking his head and staring pointedly at my ice cream. "_I could eat as much as I wanted and the girls would still love me._" I wrinkle my nose in disgust, and see that Xander has done the same.

"_I'm done with you two morons,_" I say, pushing past Jase and leaving the room. "_If you need me, I'm in my room._" I turn and make my way down the corridor until I reach my bedroom. From inside, there is the noise of shuffling papers.

Ever so slowly, I open the door a crack and peer through. Inside, a girl with long gingery-blonde curls in a high ponytail fumbles with a pile of… My Yokai photos!

I slam the door open. The girl whips around. Her blue eyes, framed by thick-rimmed glasses, lock onto mine. She drops the photos, and the box they were in, and throws herself out of the open window, leaving behind a faint smell of cherry blossoms, mingled with blood. I place my bowl down on the bed and run over to the window. The girl is almost out of sight, but she frequently stumbles as her feet catch on the silken hems of her blue-green kimono. I swear loudly and walk back to the bed and pick up my ice cream. I sit down and start eating it as I look through the photos to see if there are any missing.

After counting and recounting, I come to the conclusion that the red-haired girl didn't steal any of my photos. On the fourth count, however, I come across something that shocks me. One of the photos, with the word _Kejoro_ written on it in the boy's scruffy scrawl, is an image of a small girl with red-blonde ringlets bouncing around her shoulders. On her thin frame rests a kimono which glistens the colour of lake water, embroidered with an intricate silver thread forming a celestial pattern. I gasp and begin to chew my lip. I recognise both the hair and the kimono. It can't be, though. The kimono would be several sizes too small for her by now.

I shake my head to clear it of the ridiculous thought. It's not her. I'm just pattern matching. I sigh and put the photos away.

I take out my 3DS and switch it on. _I'll just play whatever's in there already,_ I decide. It's Pokémon X. I tap the screen with my thumb and press the A button impatiently as I wait for the game to load. I wander around aimlessly for a while, until I get a little notification thingie saying that someone in my local area has challenged me to a battle. I grin: it's the first time I've ever battled against an actual Japanese person. I click the bones in my neck and fingers and accept the battle.

I repeatedly have battles with the mysterious 'Hanako-chan' until a soft knock on my bedroom door alerts me to the presence of someone in my room. I look up towards the door with a glare.

"_I was battling!_" I say indignantly, and Dad nods.

"_I noticed,_" he says, "_I also noticed that it's past your bedtime. I don't want you to be miserable from tiredness like your brother is._" I snort.

"_He's just miserable because he's an attention whore and you're too busy to pamper him like Mum does._"

Dad frowns, "_I wasn't talking about Xander. I already know what his problem is. I was talking about Ezra. You've clearly been too busy playing video games and trying to find Yokai to notice._" The disapproval in his voice combines with the instantaneous guilt that settles over me about how bad a sister I've been to Ez and makes me feel pretty much worse than I can remember feeling since Vienna.

"_Is Ez okay? H-he's coping, isn't he? He seems like he is. I hope he is. Oh, gods. What if he isn't? What if he's really struggling and he feels even worse because I haven't noticed and he thinks I don't care. What if-_"

"_He's fine, Korin. He might need a few more Korey hugs than normal for a little while, just until we've all settled in. You don't need to cry._" Dad reaches down and a wipes from my cheek a tear that I didn't even realise was falling. He holds his hand out. "_DS, please. You'll be on it all night otherwise._" I smile slightly and save my game, before switching off my 3DS and placing it in Dad's outstretched hand.

When Dad leaves the room, I don't bother to change into my pajamas or clean my teeth. I just get up and walk across the room to the light switch, then climb into bed and try to go to sleep.

I wake early from dreams filled with the sounds of something being scratched. My vision is blurred from the way my eyes squint as they try to adjust to the light pouring in through my open curtains.

"Hurry, Mariko-chan! She's waking!" I groan and try to push myself upright when I hear someone speak.

"I'm going as quickly as I can, Onee-sama!" A high-pitched, irked voice follows, and the voice triggers a sense of deja vu in my mind. I force my eyes to open fully, but I'm too late too see who it is. All I do see is a flash of red-blonde hair disappearing out of the window, leaving behind a slip of parchment which slowly falls to the floor. I climb (or rather fall, face first) out of bed and walk (drag myself across the floor) to where the parchment has landed. I scoop it up and unfold it. Written on it, in flawless English from a neat hand, is _This room belongs to Nii-san. You have no business._ My eyes widen. Last night, when I saw the photo labelled _Kejoro_, I was right.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

"So you haven't had any experiences with Yokai yet, Korin-chan?" Megumi asks, seeming genuinely concerned for my well being. I shake my head.

"No, I haven't." I lie, focussing on my breathing. Megumi nods.

"That's good," she says. "Are you sure, though? You haven't even seen a Tsukumogami? They're very common in houses all over the country." I nod, casually not mentioning the Kejoro that came into my bedroom while I slept the night before last, the person who was with her and the eyes I can feel watching me whenever I'm in my bedroom. I don't want anyone to hurt them, no matter how rude they may be *cough*Kejoro*cough*. I want to be a friend to them, not someone who snitches to the Akiyamas and subsequently gets them murdered.

"I might have seen one and not realised, but they haven't caused anyone in my family any problems, so I honestly don't care." Megumi frowns at how little I care about the 'imminent threat of a potentially deadly Yokai attack'. Megumi stops me and turns the two of us until we're facing each other.

"It's always better to tell an Onmyoji before it gets out of hand. They could easily kill you." Megumi says, staring straight into my eyes.

I shrug, "Doesn't matter. If they killed me, I wouldn't know I was dead because I would no longer have consciousness. Or any working body parts to feel with, if you were about to say that it would be painful."

Megumi sighs, "I can see I'm fighting a losing battle with you, Korin-chan. But at least let me train you a little." I grin after she finishes speaking.

"You mean, like, martial arts?" Megumi nods. My grin widens.

"I took Judo lessons when I was younger, back in London. I joined a class for a couple of months in Vienna, too. Got my purple belt." Megumi starts laughing. "What? Purple's good, right?"

"If you're, like, ten years old." She takes a few deep breaths to regain her composure. "I'm sorry, Korin-chan. I'm a second Dan."

"And I quit Judo when I was eight, then went back to it for two months when I was eleven." I say indignantly, and Megumi nods.

"That makes more sense." she says. She suddenly glances over my shoulder looking concerned. I follow her line of sight and see that Satoshi is running towards us. He stops for a moment to apologise to the driver who almost knocked him down when he ran across the road without looking,but continues quickly towards us.

"We've got a situation, Megumi," he says. "Some tourist girl came out of a public toilet screaming her head off about a blood-soaked monster. Gave me this." He holds up a black 3DS with blood on it.

"You might want to leave now, Korin-chan," Megumi says. "This is going to be dangerous. I don't want you getting hurt."

"I want to come." I say stubbornly. Satoshi steps towards me, closer than I'm comfortable with. He bends down slightly to make up for our height difference and puts my mouth close to my ear.

"I don't want anything to happen to you, Korin-chan. Please go home, for your own good." he breathes into my ear. I step away from him with a look of disgust plastered on my face.

"I'm coming with you." I say. Satoshi sighs and takes out his phone. He taps the screen a few times before putting it to his ear.

"Hey, Takeshi. Yeah. I know. We've got a situation, and Korin-chan's trying to come with us. Will you please drag her back to her house?" he says, and moments later lets out an irritated groan. "Well thank you, you selfish little wanker. Now we're going to have to take Korin-chan with us. Thanks a lot." He hangs up and puts his phone in his pocket, muttering angrily.

"It's not his fault, Satoshi." Megumi says, putting her hand on her brother's arm. I clap my hands excitedly.

"Are we going to go, then?" I ask, and Satoshi grins and throws his arm around me.

"Sure thing, Korin-kohai. You'll be waiting outside with me while Megumi goes in and exorcises it."

"Wait, what? Why is only Megumi-chan going in?"

"It's in a girls' bathroom. I can't go in." Satoshi says, and I nod.

"That makes sense," I say. "But it still doesn't explain why I can't go in."

"You have no experience with Yokai," Megumi all but yells at me. "If it's an Aka-Manto or an Aka-Kami-Ao-Kami, you will be dead so quickly. You don't know how to fight them."

"Yellow paper. No, I don't want a red mantle." I say, and Satoshi laughs.

"And a bucket of urine gets tipped over your head. That's a great look, Korin-chan."

"Aka-Manto aren't that easy. Their voices and faces are irresistible to women." Megumi says.

"Score one for lesbians, then." I say. Megumi glares at me and Satoshi coughs to cover his laughter. Megumi turns her glare to him.

"This is no laughing matter, Satoshi! You should know that. You've had more hands-on experience that Takeshi and I combined." she yells, and Satoshi holds his hands up in surrender.

"Okay, I know. But it's not likely to be either of those," Satoshi says. He holds up the 3DS. "The poor girl said that the Yokai was playing on this and left it behind when _she_ disappeared. The Yokai was clearly female, and playing on a 3DS. So naturally, I switched it on. Found this." He turns the 3DS on. He presses the A button a few times and shows us the screen. The Yokai had been playing Pokémon Y. I gasp.

"So it's an otaku girl." Megumi says dryly. "And what, its player name gave away its identity? It can't seriously that stupid. No one uses their real name on Pokémon." I flush red. Satoshi looks at me quizzically.

"You use your real name on Pokémon." he says, Megumi raises her eyebrows at me.

"I thought you were smart, Korin-chan." she says, shaking her head exasperatedly. The three of us begin to walk in the direction of the public toilets.

"This Yokai is obviously just as stupid as Korin-chan," Satoshi says with a smirk, "Because- Would you look at that!" He shows us the screen again. The save game data has come up, complete with the Trainer Name. I gasp when I see it, as well as the trainer image. _Hanako-chan_.

"Are you okay, Korin-chan?" Megumi asks. I nod.

"I've spent probably at least ten hours battling her in the last two days." I say. Satoshi bursts out laughing.

"Y-you've been having Pokémon battles against a _Toilet Hanako_?" he manages to ask between his laughter. He sticks his fingers up behind his glasses and wipes tears of mirth from his eyes. "That'll be one to tell your children one day!" I shake my head.

"I'm never having children. Seriously. I hate them." I say, and Satoshi recovers from his laughter and pouts at me.

"You mean you don't get happiness from looking after little ones? I would expect that someone with a younger sibling would understand."

"You two can argue about reproduction later. We've got a Toilet Hanako to exorcise." Megumi says, and it strikes me how much her personality changed between leaving the house giggling and chatting non-stop to now, almost silent with a murderous look in her dark brown eyes. "We're here, by the way."

"If it's only a Toilet Hanako, can I come? I've been battling her. I can probably get her to come out. I mean, who doesn't want to meet the people they've been battling?"

Megumi shrugs, "I don't see why not. You can get her to come out, chat to her a bit, soften her up and get her guard down. It would make my job ten times easier." I try to keep my face neutral so that Megumi and Satoshi don't realise that I plan to get Hanako out. Megumi hugs Satoshi and leads me into the toilet.

Megumi tilts herself up on her toes and cups her hands around her mouth and my ear.

"Go into a stall and knock on th-"

"I know what to do." Megumi nods and gives me a thumbs up.

"Go for it, Korin-chan!"

I walk into a stall and shut the door.

"Are you there, Hanako-chan?" I ask, knocking on the door three times.

"Yes, I am." The voice comes from behind me. I turn and gasp. Sitting on the floor, her head leant against the toilet seat, is a young girl, no more than nine or ten years old, in the girls' uniform of the local elementary school. Her sleek black hair is cropped around her neck and she is drenched in blood. Her uniform is torn and bloodstained. I smile brightly. "You call me chan, not san. Why is this?"

I giggle, "I've been battling you for the last two days. My name is Korin." Hanako sits upright.

"With the strong offensive team? The Greninja and Mega Charizard and Noctowl and Pikachu and Ditto and Amaura?" she asks excitedly. I nod, grinning. "You're a good trainer."

I shake my head, "You should battle some of the boys from my old school. _They_ were good trainers."

"You're new here, aren't you?" I nod. "I guessed as much. You must be new, or you would be afraid."

"I'm not afraid because I have no reason to be afraid." I state calmly. My phone vibrates in my pocket. I take it out, alongside my 3DS. A true trainer takes their team everywhere. I switch on my 3DS and unlock my phone. I have a new text from Megumi.

_Is she calm yet?_

_Nope. Give me a few more minutes._ I send back. I open my notes on my 3DS and take out the stylus after slipping my phone back into my pocket.

On the screen, I write, _I'll keep talking out loud, but I want you to read what I write on here._ Hanako nods. We continue to talk about Pokémon, discussing battle tactics and how we select our teams.

_The girl who just texted me is an onmyoji. She asked me to get your guard down so that she can kill you, but I want to help you escape._ I write and Hanako's eyes widen. The next time she speaks, her voice trembles. Her face is showing all of the signs of true gratefulness.

_Go to the house that used to belong to the family with the two dead children. That's where I live. My room is what used to belong to the boy. You can stay in my ensuite bathroom._ Hanako beams at me.

_I'll yell to Megumi and you can get out. Can you do that?_ Hanako nods. Her childish happiness fills me with cheer.

_If you stay until I open the door and then get out, she'll catch a glimpse of you and won't suspect anything._ Hanako nods, biting her lip.

_Can you do that?_ Hanako nods again. I give her a thumbs up and count down from five on my fingers.

_Five._

Hanako's lip begins to bleed.

_Four._

Jittering nerves fill my body.

_Three._

Hanako tenses her body.

_Two._

I give Hanako a reassuring smile.

_One._

"Now, Megumi-chan!" I yell, throwing open the cubicle door. Megumi steps forward and throws a piece of paper which shifts in midair and turns into a bird of prey. My eyes flicker towards Hanako just in time to see her disappear. I fall against the wall and cover my mouth to stem my sigh of relief. Hanako got away safely. I just saved a life.

"Damn it!" Megumi yells. "I almost had her!" She holds her hand out and the bird lands on her hand and turns back into a piece of paper. She shoves it into her pocket and storms out of the toilets. "Come one, Korin-chan."

I follow her out, and a sense of achievement settles over me.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

Hanako and I walk through the forest towards where I left the Kirin, giggling and chatting happily. After tidying Hanako up a lot (I spent quite a bit of money on new clothes for her), she passed Megumi in the street and went unrecognised. We're still trying to figure out how to get her 3DS back from Satoshi. Aside from the whole 'dead nine year old who was brutally murdered by her own father' thing, Hanako is just a normal kid.

The two of us make our way quickly through the forest, singing 'Remote Control' by Rin and Len Kagamine. Hanako sings Rin's part and I sing Len's. It doesn't take us long to reach the Kirin, and, as soon as we do, Hanako rushes forward and falls to her knees.

"My lord" she cries, "We've brought antiseptic wipes, a bandage roll and some animal-safe painkillers! Korin-nee-chan is our saviour, given by Kami-sama!" I raise my eyebrows.

"Kami-sama doesn't exist, Hanako-chan," I say. "I'm just an otaku who wants to help out." I crouch down next to the Kirin and let my hands find their way to its injured leg. I peel off the bandage and grimace. The wound doesn't look as deep as it did before, and it has scabbed over and shrunk, but the scales surrounding it are flaking off.

Hanako gasps, "Kirin-sama, you'll be okay! Korin-nee-chan will help you!" I sigh and hold my hand out to Hanako. She fumbles in the pocket of her new Totoro hoodie and pulls out the pack of antiseptic wipes. She dumps the pack on my outstretched hand. I bring it closer to myself and open it. I take out one wipe and rub it gently over the Kirin's wound. I don't know anything about medicine, so I don't even know if antiseptic wipes have any effect on a wound that's already scabbed over. I blink back the tears that form in my eyes when the Kirin moans pitifully. I glance over my shoulder at Hanako. She looks like she's about to have a mental breakdown.

"Give Kirin some painkillers." I say, and she nods, wiping tears out of her eyes. She takes out the box of painkillers and pops two out. She holds them to the Kirin's mouth. It opens its mouth slightly and Hanako drops them in. She strokes the Kirin's head while it swallows the tablets and I continue to clean the wound.

After I've used up seven antiseptic wipes, someone speaks from behind us.

"That's enough. The wound is clean." I turn and see a girl about my age, maybe a little older, wearing a silvery-white kimono. Her hair, the dark brown of earth scattered with strands of the white of freshly fallen snow, tumbles in soft waves to her elbows. Her mismatched eyes, one ice blue, the other the yellow-gold of the winter sun, bore into me.

"Who are you?" I ask, taking my scissors out of my pocket and holding them up in front of me, the blades angled towards the girl.

"Don't hurt her, Korin-nee-chan! She's one of us!" I nod and lower the scissors, but I don't loosen my grip on them. I've been lucky so far, but not all Yokai are as harmless as Kirin and Hanako.

"I've heard your voice before," I say to the girl. I think for a moment, trying to remember where I recognise her voice from. I gasp when I realise. "You were with that Kejoro- Mariko, I think- when she broke into my bedroom while I was asleep." The girl nods. Hanako gasps.

"Mariko-chan? Suzumiya Mariko-chan?" she asks. The girl nods.

"That was her name in life."

"Wait… She's the girl who used to live in my new house, isn't she?" Hanako nods.

"Mariko-chan was my cousin. We were very close, and she was always my father's favourite. Her murder drove him mad, and that's how I happened." she says slowly, her voice cracking as tears roll down her cheeks. I shuffle over to her and pull her into an awkward hug. She wraps her arms around my neck and sobs.

"How odd," says the girl, "That you, Belododia Korin, are able to mix so freely with both Yokai and onmyoji. Hanako-chan and Kirin-sama trust you fully. I'm not so sure, yet. While some of the forest's Yokai place their trust in you and see you as a gift given to us by Kami-sama, there is the inescapable fact that your best friend is an onmyoji, and of the Akiyama clan, no less."

"Megumi-chan asked me to help her to kill Hanako-chan, but I risked my friendship to help her to get away. I think you can probably trust me."

"It could be a ruse. You could be trying to gain our trust in order to destroy us." I open my mouth to respond, but Hanako beats me to it.

"Korin-nee-chan would never do that! She spent all of her money buying me new clothes and let me hide in her bathroom and ate in her room so that she could bring me food without her family finding out about me!"

"Answer these questions carefully," the girl says, "Why did you come to Japan?"

"I moved here with my family. My dad's a psychiatrist and does counselling. He thought he'd be able to make money here."

"You came here for money?"

"I came here because I always go with him when he moves somewhere for work. It's part of my cultural education. It has been since I was eight."

"Given the choice, would you have come here or stayed in England?"

"I would have come here. I've always wanted to see Japan."

"Why is that?"

"I'm an otaku." The girl smiles at my blunt answer.

"That was unexpected. You are being honest, though. I am glad of that. You can, for now, be trusted."

"That's great. Now if only I could put a name to your face…"

"Just call me Yuki." she says, and it clicks in my mind.

"You're a Yuki-Onna."

Yuki nods, "One of many. We're the most common Yokai in this area. All of the mountain deaths, all of the winter suicides, they become Yuki-Onna. I am the eldest of my kind, and the fourth eldest in the forest. Kirin-sama is the eldest, and the most sacred. You have done us a great service with your kindness." I smile at her.

"I'm glad. You guys are awesome. I don't understand why everyone hates you so much." Yuki sighs and shakes her head.

"There is a very small, almost non-existent, minority who harm humans and give the rest of us a bad name. There was a time when Yokai and humans lived side by side,.as peacefully as flowers and trees," Yuki sighs again. "Since then, not a single one of us has been able to socialise with a human. Every one of you fears us."

"I don't. I think you're inspirational. The way everyone hates you, but you still stand your ground and defend your friends and your territory, even when people are trying to drive you out and kill you." Yuki smiles at me.

"This is why many of the other Yokai of the forest are calling you our saviour, saying you were sent by Kami-sama. They think that you will be the one to bring harmony back and end our centuries of suffering." My neck goes soft and my head hangs down, my eyes fixed on the floor.

"I can't do that. There's no way. I'm not capable. You'd need someone who can influence others, someone who's good with people. Someone who's the opposite of me," I sigh deeply. "I'm just a logophilic otaku."

"That may be so, but not many would have the courage to lie to their best friend and go undercover to save their enemy. It's clear you're not a medic, though. I appreciate your effort, but you'll likely do more harm than good." Hanako gasps, as though she's outraged by Yuki's 'insult'.

"How dare you! Korin-nee-chan is trying to save us! Akiyama Megumi would have killed me if it wasn't for her kindness. She's a skilled Pokémon trainer, too! Her team is the only I've come across who can beat mine!" she screams, tears streaming down her face in thick waves, and her voice high, tight and choked.

I place my hand on her shoulder, "Calm down, Hanako-chan. She's not being rude. She's just stating a fact."

"Korin-nee-chan would never hurt anyone." Hanako says, her voice trembling with what seems to be rage. I laugh.

"You should see my behavioural records from all my old schools. Seriously, I would hurt someone if they gave me a reason." Yuki lets out a light laugh, strangely reminiscent of the bells Dad used to ring outside my bedroom on Christmas Eve when I was little in an attempt at convincing me that Santa was real.

"You can leave the forest now, Korin-san. You've done all you need to. You-"

"You have no business here!" Yuki is cut off by a yell as Mariko, the Kejoro who was once a human who lived in my house and _keeps coming into my bedroom_ leaps down from a tree.

"Mariko-chan, I've told you already. Your parents sold the house. It's no longer yours or your brother's. Korin's father bought the house. It is theirs now."

Mariko sighs, "Fine. She can have the house. But only because she saved Kirin-sama."

Yuki, Mariko, Hanako and I work together to try to heal the Kirin (or, more accurately, Yuki tries to heal it and Mariko, Hanako and I hand her supplies as she needs them and generally just get in the way) until a girl who appears to be around my age with dark brown hair, streaked with purple at the front and cropped around her chin, comes running over to us and doubles over, panting.

"Y-Yuki-chan… We've got trouble. A group of onmyoji have Chibi Kitsune cornered," she says, "We need to go quickly, or we'll be too late." Yuki gasps and stands quickly.

"Kirin-sama…" she says, staring straight into the Kirin's smoky grey right eye. "Will you be okay if I leave to help Chibi Kitsune?" The Kirin lets out a small whinny. Yuki smiles and nods.

"What did Kirin-sama say, Yuki-senpai?" asks the new girl worriedly, her pond slime green eyes wide with fear.

"It said that it will be fine, thanks to Korin-san." Yuki says, gesturing to me, and I sigh with relief. I was useful, after all. The new girl turns to me.

"I didn't notice you there. You're not one of us. Why are you here?"

I open my mouth to speak, but Hanako bursts out with more defensiveness before I have a chance.

"Korin-nee-chan saved Kirin-sama and lied to an onmyoji so that she could save me! She was sent by Kami-sama to restore harmony!"

"So you're the one everyone's been talking about," the new girl says with a wry smile. "The English immigrant who made friends with the Akiyama girl."

"Yeah," I say. "That's me."

"You should come with us, then," the girl says, "Tell your friend and her family to leave Chibi Kitsune alone." My eyes widen. Of course the Akiyamas would be the ones attacking a defenseless Yokai baby! I feel a silent tear trace a track down my cheek. I think that what the Akiyamas are doing is barbaric, but I don't want to jeopardise my first ever true friendship. I so desperately want to help the Kitsune, but if I lose Megumi's friendship, I won't be able to help other Yokai to get away from her.

"She won't listen to me," I say quietly, "Her personality changes completely when she's about to kill a Yokai. I saw how she got when she was going to kill Hanako-chan." I shudder. I would never admit it to her, but the pure rage and loathing in Megumi's eyes after Hanako got away scared the shit out of me. Not literally, thankfully. Yuki smiles reassuringly at me.

"It's okay, Korin-san. I can handle it. You two stay here, too, Mariko-chan, Hanako-chan," she says confidently. "Come with me, Bunko-kohai. You can show me the way." The girl, Bunko, nods.

"Let's hurry. I don't want anything to happen to Chibi Kitsune." she says, and she and Yuki run off in the direction Bunko came from.

Mariko turns to me and pushes her glasses up her nose. I cough to cover my laughter. The gesture reminds me so much of Satoshi, and it amuses me that a Yokai and an onmyoji would have the same mannerisms as each other, probably without realising it. Mariko's head snaps onto me and she stares me down with cold blue eyes.

"What's so funny, human?" I shake my head.

"Nothing. Sorry."

Hanako sighs and sits down beside the Kirin, then takes a 3DS out of her pocket and switches it on. I do a double take.

"H-hey! Hanako-chan! When did I say you could take my DS?" Hanako giggles evilly and pokes her tongue out at me.

"I did."

"You little-"

"Catch me if you can, Korin-nee-chan!" she yells as she stands up and bounds off. I sigh and begin to chase after her.

"Back me up, Mariko-san!" I yell, and Mariko laughs.

"I don't know you weirdos!"


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

Our entire year group stands in the assembly hall, and I know the question on everyone's minds. _Why have we all been kept behind after school?_ A loud crash resounds around the room as a teacher standing on the stage claps her hands in front of the microphone.

"If everyone could please get into a group of two boys and two girls, it would make my life much easier." When the teacher speaks, there is a sudden rabble as everyone rushes to get into groups with their friends, and find a pair of the opposite gender who are _not too awful_. Megumi grabs onto my shoulder with her left hand and Takeshi's with her right. I make eye contact with Ezra. He stops looking quite so lost and makes his way through the crowd towards us.

"Of course I don't even get a say in who I go with." Takeshi says, shaking his head. Ezra's eyes flicker onto him a few times, and I can see his fear and nervousness.

"What are we even doing?" Megumi asks, tilting her head to the side in confusion. Takeshi shrugs.

"It's probably the same surprise orienteering trip Mum signed Satoshi up for last year. You know, the one in the forest." he says, and Megumi nods with a sigh of understanding.

"The one he couldn't go on because we all got called out to Kyoto to help get rid of that whole clan who were terrorising civilians! I remember!" she exclaims, and Takeshi nods.

"Probably. I hope not, though. They ended up being split off into pairs, and quite a few people ended up badly injured because of Yokai attacks," His face falls and he tenses up, paling drastically. "I don't fancy my chances, what with the…" He trails off, not seeming to realise that his left hand has found its way to just above his right hip. Megumi nods.

"Yeah. I hope so. I don't want you to get hurt ag-" She stops suddenly, cutting herself off with widening eyes. It's obvious, though, what she was about to say. She doesn't want Takeshi to get hurt _again_.

"A-again?" Ezra asks quietly, his small voice almost completely swallowed by the noises of our classmates screaming at each other excitedly. Takeshi gives Megumi a dark scowl.

"No. Not _again_. Megumi meant nothing. No one has got hurt." His voice is bitter and laced with such venomous anger, all directed towards his sister. It's obvious he's lying. Ezra's cheeks flush red and his hands begin to shake. I reach out and clasp his right hand in both of mine.

"_You okay?_" I ask him, and he nods slowly, although tears are forming in his eyes. I give his hand a gentle squeeze, and he manages a small smile.

Finally, the insane yelling from all corners, edges and centimetres of the room dies down.

"The groups you are currently in are what we will base the pairs for this weekend's orienteering trip on," the teacher says, and everyone cheers excitedly. "From each group of four, we will create two mixed gender pairs." Several groans are heard throughout the room. The four of us share a look. I wouldn't mind being paired with Takeshi, but I'd rather be with Ezra, and I'm not sure how well he'd cope being paired up with someone as loud and bubbly as Megumi.

The two teachers begin to make their way around the room, stopping at each group of four to write down which pairs they are making. There are several squeals of excitement, though they are almost always accompanied by groans of misery.

When one of them reaches Megumi, Takeshi, Ezra and I, she looks at our group.

"How did I know?" she asks, and Megumi giggles. The teacher scribbles something on her clipboard and looks up at the four of us. "Megumi-san and Ezra-san will be together, as will Takeshi-san and Korin-san." Megumi squeals so loudly that several people cover their ears. The teacher walks off, giving Megumi a slightly disapproving look.

"Yay! This is so exciting!" Megumi squeals enthusiastically. She turns slightly and makes eye contact with Ezra. He begins to chew his lip nervously. "I finally have a chance to get to know you, Ezra-kun! You're so quiet that I know nothing about you, except what Korin-chan has told me."

Takeshi sighs, "I guess I'll have to protect you, Korin-san." His tone says all too clearly that he is most certainly _not_ happy with the arrangement. I nod with a slight shrug.

"Yeah, I guess I'm stuck with you." Megumi frowns.

"Do you two not like each other? Did I miss something?" she asks, and Takeshi shakes his head.

"No, nothing." he says, before beginning to cough. Megumi places her hand on his shoulder. Takeshi coughs hard into his hands, doubling over, for about thirty seconds. Ezra looks stunned, and with good reason. Takeshi isn't one to show weakness, and the last time someone asked if he was okay, he gave them what I've come to know as the 'Ultimate Akiyama Death Glare of Doom' due to the fact that I've also seen both Megumi and Satoshi using it. Megumi rubs small circles on his back.

"A-are you okay, Takeshi-san?" I ask him as he stands up, his face much paler than it was before his coughing fit. He scowls at me, but it's half-hearted and not as cold as his glares usually are.

"I'm fine." And there it is. The most commonly told lie for people of almost all ages. He gives a dismissive wave of his hand as he speaks, but it's obvious that no one is convinced. A few people from other groups are giving him concerned looks, too, though no one seems surprised. Maybe it's a common occurrence, and I just haven't been here long enough to have noticed.

"Th-the trip is this w-weekend. M-maybe you should s-stay home and r-rest, rather than going on the trip, Takeshi-san…" Ezra says quietly, staring at Takeshi with his eyes wide and filled with genuine concern. His hands are trembling. I doubt he's ever said so much to anyone outside the family before. Takeshi shakes his head slightly.

"Don't be stupid, Ezra-san. Your sister probably can't read a map and will most certainly end up getting herself lost or killed if she's alone."

I frown, "Did you just call me stupid and incapable?" I ask. "I can too read a map. I'm pretty good at it, too." Megumi steps between Takeshi and I and places a hand gently on each of our chests.

"Hey, no fighting. School is a peaceful place of learning where everyone should be able to feel safe." she says with a slight frown. It looks out of place on a face that seems to smile even while telling Yokai that she's about to end their existences. I notice out of the corner of my eye that the teachers are watching with slight concern. One of them says something to the other, and I guess they're wondering whether or not they should come over and make sure everything's okay.

"I wasn't intending to fight. It wouldn't be fair to fight someone who's obviously sick and should obviously be resting." I state calmly.

"I'm fine." Takeshi says firmly, but as though he's trying to convince himself. Megumi sighs and facepalms.

"You two are hopeless. I'm never going to able to get anything through to either of you, am I?" she asks exasperatedly. Ezra giggles almost silently into his hand.

The teachers have obviously decided not to intervene, because one of them clears her throat into the microphone to get everyone's attention.

"Now that you all have your groups for this weekend's trip, you will be dismissed shortly. Your parents and guardians have all been given the lists of what you will need. The reason you were not told of this trip before today is so that you do not have time to prepare too much, and so that everyone has the same chance to achieve high levels in the activity. There will another meeting in here tomorrow after school, when we will tell you what you will be doing and how you will be assessed. This is not about how well you can prepare, but rather about how good your intuition and navigation abilities are, as well as how well you can look after yourselves." she says loudly in her booming, authoritative voice, and everyone in the room seems to be hanging off her every word. "Dismissed!" There is a sudden crush as everyone rushes to get out of the doors quickly so that they can get home as quickly as possible.

The four of us hang around the back and are the last ones to leave.

"Will we need to take food with us?" Megumi asks, and Takeshi raises his eyebrows at her.

"That cannot be a serious question. Of course we'll need to take food! I highly doubt they would trust a group of fifteen and sixteen year olds to gather their own food in the forest." he says slowly, as though talking to a toddler.

"What sort of food do you like, Ezra-kun?" Megumi asks Ezra, grabbing onto his arm. She clearly doesn't understand the concept of _personal space_. "Do you like instant ramen?" Ezra nods.

"You're so lazy, Megumi," Takeshi says. He glances at me. "Can you cook, Korin-san?" Ezra and I share a look and immediately burst out laughing. Takeshi and Megumi stare at the two of us as if we're crazy.

When I calm down, almost five minutes later, I respond to the question. "My last attempt at cooking ended up with the whole family out of action for a week, all thanks to food poisoning. I've set fire to the kitchen a few times, too. At my last school, they wouldn't even let me in the Food Technology classroom." Takeshi's eyes are wide with shock by the time I finish talking. Ezra is still giggling.

"V-V-Vienna" he manages to say between fits of laughter. I glare at him and purse my lips.

"What happens in Austria stays in Austria." I say indignantly, and Megumi tilts her head to the side.

"What happened in Vienna?" I give Ezra a glare as he opens his mouth to tell her.

"Don't even think about it." I say, and he falls into another round of giggles. I shudder and try to push the unwanted memories back down.

"Well, I can't cook either," Takeshi says. "So I guess we'll have to-"

"Instant ramen!" I scream, punching the air and doing a happy dance. Takeshi mutters something that sounds like _Narutard_. I pretend I didn't hear him. We continue to walk to the bus stop.

"This is so exciting!" Megumi squeals. She seems to be in very squealy mood today. She begins bouncing up and down and clapping rather than walking, and I can see Takeshi's growing exasperation. He grabs onto her shoulder to try and make her draw less attention to us and coughs into the crook of his elbow a few times.

"C-calm down, Megumi." he says, his voice slightly weak, and Megumi stops bouncing.

"I need to let out some of my excitement, or I'll explode!" she all but screams with a wide grin spreading further and further across her face.

"To be honest, I sometimes think that Xander might actually be more mature than you, Megumi-chan." I say, and Megumi giggles.

"That's not a good thing, Megumi. Xander-san is _eleven_." Takeshi says. Megumi pouts.

"You guys are so mean to me!" she whines. Takeshi facepalms.

"We're just stating the facts. You are probably the weirdest person I will ever have the misfortune of knowing." he says.

"A-apart from Korin." Ezra mutters. Takeshi frowns.

"She's not too bad," he turns to face me. "When she's keeping the creepy fangirling to a minimum, that is." I poke my tongue out at him. He shakes his head slightly in exasperation, though a small smile is tugging at the corners of his lips.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

I close my eyes and hug my knees closer to my body as I sit on the floor of the living room, listening to Ezra playing his new piano. It's insane how he can force emotions onto someone and get a point across so well with just patterns of notes that he makes by pressing keys in a certain order. I will never understand it. I open my eyes a crack and see that Dad is smiling proudly, Xander is listening intently with a broad grin and Jase is… Texting, as usual.

Ezra reaches the end of the piece and glances over his shoulder to look at us. He beams when he sees how much Dad, Xander and I enjoyed it. His smile falters slightly when he sees that Jase isn't paying attention, but he looks away from Jase in a way that makes me think he's trying to put it out of his mind.

"_Why don't you do a duet with me, Korin?_" Ezra asks quietly, and I slide backwards across the floor.

"_No way. You're so much better than me. I'll just end up embarrassing myself._" I say, and Ezra widens his eyes pleadingly.

"_Come on, Korin. Please! We can play an anison…_" I sigh and stand up. I walk to the piano and sit down on the stool beside Ezra.

"_We're playing Heat-Haze Days._" I say, and he nods.

"_Shall I do the accompaniment and you do the tune?_" he asks, and I nod. He reaches out his hands and his fingers begin to glide over the keys. He plays it perfectly. When he reaches the right bit, I come in with the vocal line. I speed it up as Ezra does the same, and we keep sharing playful looks like _I can play it faster than you!_ We continue to get faster and faster until our hands collide and we burst out laughing.

We stay like that for a few minutes, Ezra, Xander and I laughing, Dad shaking his head at our antics, and Jase texting. Then, the almost perfect family is shattered by Dad standing up.

"_Right, it's past everyone's bedtimes. Off you go, all of you. I expect to see all lights out in no more than thirty minutes._" he says, and the four of us get up and make our way out of the living room.

I run to the kitchen and grab some of the leftover roast chicken, making sure no one is around to see me. I shove it onto a plate and walk as quickly and quietly as possible back to my bedroom. When I get in there and close the door, I let out a breath I hadn't even realised I was holding in. I set the plate down on my bed and walk into my ensuite bathroom. Hanako is nowhere in sight. I knock on the door.

"Hanako-chan! Where are you?" I ask, glancing over my shoulder. Hanako appears, laying on her side with her head resting on her hand.

"Hey, Korin-nee-chan. I was getting bored all alone in here." she says indignantly with a small pout. I raise my eyebrows.

"So you went to freak people out?"

Hanako shakes her head, "I was just exploring. I wanted to see what the other bathrooms here were like," I shake my head at her antics. "It's not _my_ fault someone came into one of the bathrooms while I was in there. He was so mean to me! He wouldn't even tell me his name! He just screamed and ran out when I tried to start a conversation!" I gasp, my eyes widening.

"How old was he? What did he look like?" I ask, and Hanako frowns.

"He was maybe a year older than me, and he had hair and skin like yours, but brown eyes." I nod, before groaning and facepalming simultaneously.

"That's my little brother Xander. He completely freaked out just from going into the forest. He didn't even see a Yokai that day." I explain, and Hanako chews her lip nervously. A tear begins to form in the corner of her eye.

"I didn't mean to scare him," she says quietly, "I don't like scaring people." I nod and pull Hanako into a hug.

"I know you don't. I know." I hear a soft knock on my bedroom door, accompanied by the sound of whimpering. I pull away from the hug and give Hanako's hand a reassuring squeeze. I walk out of the bathroom, closing the door behind me, and walk across my bedroom to the door. I open it to reveal Dad and Xander. Xander is visibly shaking in Dad's arms. My heart instantaneously melts, and I hold my arms out. Xander pulls away from Dad and falls into my arms, sobbing and shaking uncontrollably.

"_What happened?_" I ask Dad, and he shakes his head.

"_I don't know. He wouldn't say. Ezra said he ran out of the bathroom screaming, but he couldn't get anything out of him. You're much closer to him than the rest of us are._" he says quietly as Xander trembles in my arms.

"_Okay, I think I can handle it._" I say, and Dad nods. He closes the door after glancing between me and the plate of chicken that is still on my bed.

I lead Xander over to the bed and the two of us sit down. I rub little circles on his back and stroke his hair slowly until I think he's calm enough to talk.

"_I think I know what it was that scared you so much, but can you tell me just to make sure?_" I ask, and Xander looks up at me with tears in his eyes and on his cheeks.

"_I-I w-went into th-the bathroom a-and th-there w-was a girl i-in there… Sh-she was s-sitting next to th-the t-toilet and singing a-and it w-was r-really s-scary a-and th-then she s-saw m-me a-and s-started t-t-talking t-to m-me…_" Xander manages to choke out between sobs, before lapsing into another round of shuddering, rasping wails.

A choked sob, clearly trying to be concealed, comes from behind my bathroom door. Xander tenses in my arms.

"You can come out, Hanako-chan." I say, and the door swings open quietly. Hanako steps out, avoiding making eye contact with me as she fiddles with the strings of of her hoodie. Xander turns his head slightly and his eyes widen when he sees Hanako. "Xander, this is Hanako-chan. She's about as dangerous as a cushion." I say, and Hanako frowns at me.

"I'll have you know I'm a fearsome Pokémon Master!" she says indignantly. Her eyes flicker towards the plate of chicken. "Can I…?" I nod. Hanako smiles slightly and sits down on my bed. She begins to eat the chicken. Xander stares at her with wide eyes.

"_K-Korin… What's going on? Who is she? W-why is she here?_" he asks. Hanako looks at him and frowns.

"Stop talking about me in a language I don't speak." she says, pouting. Xander giggles.

"You're funny," he says, wiping his eyes and nose on his sleeve. "You're not scary like I thought you were." Hanako smiles brightly at him.

"Why don't we try again?" she asks, then sticks out her hand for him to shake. "I'm Suzumiya Chiasa, but everyone calls me Hanako. What's your name?" I raise my eyebrows, feeling slightly hurt. How come Hanako told Xander her real name, but not me?

"Alexander Belododia, but everyone calls me Xander or Xand because Alexander is an old person name." Xander's voice trembles slightly as he speaks. It's obvious he's still wary of Hanako. Hanako giggles.

"All English names sound like old people names. English family names sound funny, too. 'Belododia' is really weird." Hanako says, and I smile at Hanako's naïvety. Belododia is a Romanian surname.

"Belododia isn't English, silly." Xander says with a teasing smile. Hanako tilts her head to the side in confusion.

"But I thought you were English?"

"Our father is half English, half Romanian, and our mother is Greek." I explain, and Hanako nods.

"That's so cool!" she says, then glances nervously towards the door. She scoops up the rest of the chicken. "Someone's coming!" she whispers, and I nod. She runs back into the bathroom and shuts the door. I run my fingers across the grease on the now empty plate and rub some of it across my lips to make it look like I was eating. Moments later, three soft thuds land on my bedroom door.

"_Come in!_" I say, and Dad opens the door and steps inside. He smiles kindly at Xander.

"_Feeling a bit happier now?_" he asks, and Xander nods with a small smile. "_Do you want to tell me what it was that scared you so much?_" I feel my body tense. Xander doesn't know that Hanako is a Yokai. Will he tell Dad about her?

Xander shakes his head, "_Korin showed me that it's not scary, and I'm not scared of it anymore because it's actually really pretty and nice._" I giggle, and I'm sort of glad that Hanako doesn't speak English, because it means that she doesn't know that Xander seems to have developed a crush on her. I know she's listening, and she's probably becoming irritated because she doesn't know what Xander's saying about her. She's probably scared, too, because of the all too real possibility that Xander might tell someone about her.

"_This sounds interesting,_" Dad says with a contemplative smile, "_Off to bed now, both of you. And stop taking food out of the kitchen, Korin. You should just ask for more when we're at the table._"

I shrug, "_But then everyone else has to wait while I finish eating my extra portions._" I say. Dad nods with a small sigh.

"_I suppose that is a valid reason. Bed, now. Both of you._" Xander jumps up from my bed and runs out of my room. I hear his footsteps disappear down the corridor. "_Something's changed about you since we got here, Korin. I'm not sure whether it's a good change or not, but there's definitely something different about you. Goodnight, Poppet._" He walks across the room, places a kiss on my forehead as I try to squirm away, and leaves the room. I get up and begin to change into my pajamas. Hanako slides the bathroom door open and comes out. The grease from the chicken is all over her face, and there is a little bit of chicken in her hair. I snort as she comes over to me.

"What did Xander-kun say about me, Korin-nee-chan?" she asks, clasping her lower lip between her teeth.

"He didn't tell our dad about you. Don't worry." I say, then reach out and pull the bit of chicken out of her hair. "How did you manage to get it in your hair?" I ask, and Hanako blushes.

"I didn't mean to… It just sort of… happened." she says embarrassedly, shrugging slightly. I let out a light laugh. Hanako wrinkles her nose.

"You sounded like Yuki-chan. That's not a good thing. She's weird and creepy and doesn't appreciate a good Pokémon trainer when she sees one." she says, and pokes her tongue out in disgust to illustrate her point. I take off my socks and throw them at her.

"That's such a nice thing to say about someone, Hanako-chan." I say, my voice dripping with sarcasm. "I have to go to bed now. Leave me alone and let me sleep. You should get some sleep, too."

Hanako nods, "Sure thing, Korin-nee-chan! I'll wake you up before your alarm goes off tomorrow morning so that you have no excuse to be late for your orienteering thing! I wish I could go. It sounds like fun."

"I wish you could, too. Remember, though. If you head out to the forest tonight, let Yuki-san or Mariko-san know about my orienteering trip so that they can get everyone to stay out of the way. Megumi and Takeshi are both on the trip, and I don't want anyone getting hurt." I say, letting Hanako hug me.

"Goodnight, Korin-nee-chan!" Hanako says cheerfully.

"Night, Hanako-chan." I say, and Hanako runs back into the bathroom and shuts the door. I put the empty plate on the floor, turn off the lights and climb under the covers, pulling them up over my head and holding my Chibi Russia plushie tight in one hand and my Chibi Kakashi-sensei in the other.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

"Red paper or blue paper?" I'm awoken early by a voice in my ear.

"Yellow, please." I say hoarsely, my voice thick with sleep, as I roll over and push my head under my pillow. Hanako's giggle is what wakes me up properly, though.

"You don't want anyone to pee on you today, Korin-nee-chan. You've got your orienteering trip." she says, and I sit bolt upright. My pillow falls into my lap. Hanako bursts out laughing.

"What?" I ask indignantly. Hanako points at my face.

"Your eyes have shrunk and your hair's everywhere!" she says, and I poke my tongue out at her.

"Am I teasing you about the chicken?" That shuts her up. She frowns and sits down.

"You need to get ready, Korin-nee-chan." she says, and I nod, throwing my pillow at her and standing up. I go into my bathroom and have a quick shower, placing a plastic shopping bag over my hair to keep it dry. Once I'm out of the shower, I dry myself and throw on the first clothes I find. Hanako grins at me.

"Cool top, Korin-nee-chan. Great for a school trip." she says, and I glance down to see what I'm wearing. I swear loudly. I immediately decide to change, because I highly doubt my father would appreciate the teachers' reactions to me showing up in a tentacle hentai t-shirt. I choose more carefully, this time, and select a top with _Keep Calm and Catch 'Em All_ written across it. I grab my Ash hat and put it on, before grinning at Hanako and making my way over to the door.

"See you tomorrow, Hanako-chan!" I say, and she tilts her head to the side.

"Can I use your 3DS while you're gone?" she asks, and I shake my head.

"Not a chance. I've given it to Satoshi-kun and told him I'm worried Xander will use it or Jase will break it. He's going to give it back to me tomorrow." Hanako pouts. "Bye." I walk out of the room and close the door.

I run down the corridor to the dining room, where the smell of bacon hits my nose and makes me salivate excessively. I open the door and Ezra turns to look at me.

"_I made enough for both of us._" he says, gesturing to the massive pile of bacon and hash browns that sits in the middle of the table, right in front of him.

I grin at him, "_Thanks, Ez._" I say, sitting down across from him and stuffing some bacon into my mouth. Ezra wrinkles his nose in disgust.

"_That's vile. You'll make yourself sick if you eat that much so fast._" he says, and I shrug.

"_I haven't died from eating too fast yet, so I'll probably be fine._" I say, and he shakes his head, reaching out and grabbing a hash brown, which he cuts into small pieces, all the same size (seriously, who has time for that?), and spears them one by one with his fork, sliding them off the end with his teeth. We eat in silence until the door slides open again.

Dad walks in, wearing typical 'meeting a teacher' clothes… Tan chinos and a blue and black checked shirt. Ezra chokes on his bacon, and with good reason. The only times we've ever seen Dad dress up smart is when he's had to go into school to talk to a teacher about my behaviour or Jase's. He even dresses casually for parents' evening, normally.

"_What are you wearing?_" I ask, and Dad frowns and twirls around.

"_Don't you like it?_" he asks. Ezra and I share a glance, then shake our heads at the same time. "_I'll change, but you two owe me. Next time I don't like what you're wearing, you have to change._" he says with a sigh, and leaves the room. Ezra and I make eye contact and start laughing.

"_I should have taken a photo to send to Mum,_" Ezra says wistfully, "_She would've found it hilarious!_" I grin.

"_Yeah, she would probably phone and ask what had happened and why Dad was acting so weird._" I say. The two of us laugh at the thought of our mother's reaction as we continue to eat our breakfast.

"_What supplies are you taking on the trip?_" I ask Ezra, and he shakes his head.

"_Didn't you know? Dad's given Mr Akiyama some money and he's buying for the four of us. I'm taking water and chocolate, because Megumi said that there's no way her parents would let her take chocolate._" he says, and I nod.

"_Takeshi's trying to be a gentleman by not letting me bring anything, because he thinks I'm weak and doesn't want me to strain myself by carrying too much._" I say, a frown finding its way onto my face. The fact that Takeshi has so little faith in my abilities really annoys me. He thinks I'm incapable of pretty much anything but playing video games and watching anime.

When Dad comes back in, he's in much more normal clothes: a striped t-shirt, a pair of jeans and a worn leather jacket that smells of the cigars our grandfather used to smoke, years ago. I smile.

"_That's so much better than before._" I say, and Dad nods.

"_Thank you, Korin._" he says, leaning against the door. "_Are you two ready? I need to get you to the meeting point in the next ten minutes, if possible. I've got a client in half an hour._"

I nod, "_Just let me grab my bag,_" I say, and then, with a grumble, add, "_Although it's not there's anything in it, so I don't really see the point._" I run to my bedroom.

Fifteen minutes later, we're at the meeting point. Megumi and Takeshi are both already there, and their parents are chatting to the teachers. They all look concerned, and Takeshi keeps shooting them nervous glances. He's chewing his lip hard enough that it's bleeding, and nervously fiddling with a small container of some sort, flicking the cap open and reclosing it every couple of seconds. Ezra hugs Dad and the two of us make our way over to Takeshi and Megumi, the latter of which is grinning at us and waving.

"Hey, Megumi-chan!" I say, smiling brightly. "Hi, Takeshi-san." Takeshi glances towards me and smiles slightly, so briefly I'm not sure if I imagined it.

Megumi begins squealing, and her parents look round at us and roll their eyes, "I'm so excited!" Megumi bubbles, "Are you excited, Ezra-kun?" Ezra nods, though he doesn't seem to be paying attention. He's staring at Takeshi, frowning. Probably trying to figure out what's wrong.

I sit down in the seat beside Takeshi and try to make eye contact with him. His brow creases as he looks at me.

"Are you okay?" I ask him. He nods.

"Fine." he says. I raise my eyebrows to show that I don't believe him. He gives me a small, reassuring smile, and for a moment I see someone else behind his normal self- someone sweet and kind, who isn't a total moron.

About thirty minutes later, we have begun walking. The entire year group- all seventy-four of us- reach the forest and split off into our pairs, following the map to where the first marker we have to reach is. Everyone has to reach the same markers, but every pair has either different routes or a different order.

Takeshi and I walk briskly, with Takeshi carrying everything _and_ reading the map, and me just following him and trying to peer over his shoulder to see what it is we're trying to find. Every hundred metres or so, Takeshi pauses to get his water bottle out of the side pouch of his rucksack, drinks a few sips, and puts it back. We've only been walking for about ten minutes, but his skin is pale and sweaty and he's panting.

"Takeshi-san," I say, placing my hand on his shoulder and ceasing to walk. He turns and glares at me, "Are you feeling alright? Do you need me to take some of the stuff?"

Takeshi sighs, "I can see I'm not going to be able to convince you that I'm fine no matter what I do," he says softly, "I'd really appreciate you taking some." He begins to slide his rucksack off.

"We can just swap bags. You've been carrying it all since we left school." I say, taking off my rucksack and handing it to him. He hesitates, but I hold my hand out expectantly and raise my eyebrows at him. He places the strap over my hand and my hand drops about twenty centimetres. I swear as I swing the bag onto my back.

"I-I can take it, if it's too heavy for you…" Takeshi says, but I shake my head and start walking again. Takeshi trudges along beside me, frowning at the map as he directs me.

We stop to rest much less often, and it doesn't take long for us to reach the first checkpoint on our list. Takeshi sits down, breathing heavily, while I scribble our names on the marker. We're the first people here, which is good considering that this is the most common first checkpoint. How the teachers managed to find seventeen routes, all the same length, to this point starting in the same place, I will never know. I walk back over to Takeshi. He's alternating between panting out pained breaths and sipping his water. I sit down beside him and place my hand on his shoulder.

"We'll stop here for a while, if you need to," I say, and Takeshi smiles gratefully. I slip my hand into my pocket and take out my inhaler. "Do you want to borrow this? Your breathing doesn't sound great." He nods. I hand him my inhaler and he holds it to his mouth, pressing down on the canister and breathing in deeply. He gives the inhaler back to me and I slip it back in my pocket. I slide closer to him and reach my hand up behind his rucksack. I begin to rub small circles on his back. He leans his head against me.

"Thank you, Korin-san."

I smile, "You're welcome."

We stay there for a couple of minutes, the silence only broken when Takeshi coughs hard for thirty seconds or so, after which he apologises (what for?) and insists that he's fine (which he's clearly not). The sounds of footsteps as two of our classmates approach resounds through the area.

"Are you ready to move on?" I ask, and Takeshi nods. I stand up, and he does the same, though he trembles slightly and sways on his feet. I reach out my hand and take hold of his shoulder to steady him. He swats my hand away.

"I'm fine." I roll my eyes and ignore the lie. I hold my hand out, and Takeshi seems to realise what I'm getting at. He places the map in my hand, a worried look firmly planted on his face.

"Relax, Takeshi-san. I can read maps. I used to go camping with my mum all the time." I say, and he nods.

"Okay. If we get lost, it's your fault. If we get killed, it's your fault." Takeshi says, and I laugh.

"Typical Takeshi-san, always the pessimist." I say, and Takeshi scowls at me.

"I'm not a pessimist, Korin-san, I'm a realist."

I snort, "That's exactly the same thing my mum says." I inform him, and he shakes his head at me.

"I don't care, Korin-san. Can we please pick up the speed a bit? I want to get as much done today as possible." I nod and let Takeshi take control of how fast we go.

Takeshi and I sit inside our tent, bundled up in our sleeping bags, eating instant ramen with makeshift chopsticks made from fallen twigs, because Takeshi forgot to bring proper chopsticks. After spending at least thirty minutes sitting scarily close to the fire in our trangia, Takeshi's face has finally begun to regain some colour. Takeshi tilts up his pot of artificial chicken flavoured instant ramen and drains the soup in roughly ten seconds. He removes the empty pot from his mouth, putting it down, and sighs. He glances at his watch and lies down on his roll mat, snuggling himself tighter into his sleeping bag.

"I think I'm going to go to sleep now, Korin-san. It's half past ten." he says, and I nod, swallowing a mouthful of noodles.

"I'll go to sleep once I've finished eating," I say, "Sleep well."

"Yeah, you too." Takeshi coughs twice and shuts his eyes. I switch off the torch, finish the last of my ramen, and lay down beside him.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

I don't know how long it takes me to get to sleep, though it feels like a couple of hours at least, but I awaken to a pained sound, like something is being torn away at. I sit up and rub sleep out of my eyes. I glance at my watch- it's three o'clock in the morning. I fumble around beside me and find the torch. I press down on the button and shine it around the tent. My eyes lock onto Takeshi and I gasp. His dark brown eyes are wide open and his face pale and sweat-drenched. His hands and in front of his mouth as he coughs and splutters hard into them. I swear and lean across, trying to roll him onto his side. His body is limp, and I move him with no trouble, which worries me. Suddenly, I'm wide awake. I quickly unzip my sleeping bag and clamber out so that I can move more easily. I whisper words of reassurance as I reach out for my water bottle and a clean sock. I pour some of my water onto the sock and drape it across Takeshi's forehead. A short break in the coughing comes, and Takeshi looks up at me.

"K-Korin-san… P-please d-don't c-call for h-help… I'll b-be f-fine in a minute…" he croaks out, his voice hoarse and weak. I frown.

"You're sick. You need help. I can't just-"

"I'll be fine." Takeshi cuts me off, his voice slightly firmer, though he doesn't sound any less awful. I shake my head. "Y-you don't understand, Korin-san. Whatever they do, it won't help. A Yokai did this to me." I gasp, and the faces of all the Yokai I've met flash before my eyes… Sweet little Hanako, cheerful but feisty Mariko, bookish and pedantic Bunko, confident and protective Yuki… I can't imagine a single one of them ever doing anything to harm another being unless it was to preserve themselves or their friends. And yet Takeshi is telling me that a Yokai did this, a Yokai hurt him so badly. I don't want to believe it, but the proof is right in front of me.

"Isn't there anything I can do?" He shakes his head. It makes him wince. I feel something dampen my cheeks and I realise I'm crying. Then, the coughing begins again. I can almost feel his pain as each dry, ripping noise makes his eyes water. "I'm going to call your sister." I reach out for my phone and grasp hold of it, fumbling to press the right keys to call Megumi. The phone begins to ring, and I let out a sigh of relief.

A click signals that Megumi has answered my call, "What do you want, Korin-chan? It's, like, the middle of the night." Megumi's voice is thin and tired, and I try to suppress the mounting guilt building inside me because I woke her up. I hear Ezra's voice on the other end asking if everything's okay.

"Takeshi-kun is sick." I say, and Megumi gasps and swears.

"Where are you?" she asks, and I glance at the map still unfolded on the floor and locate our camping spot, marked by a red dot. I tell Megumi the grid reference. In the background, Ezra asks again what's going on.

"I'm on my way, Korin-chan. Wait for a few minutes. I shouldn't be too long, I hope." The phone clicks as Megumi hangs up.

How long we wait for Megumi to arrive, I don't know. I help Takeshi up so that he's sitting upright and leaning against me, all of his weight pressing against me. Tears roll down his cheeks and he buries his face in the crook of my neck every time the coughing stops for a few seconds. Finally, though, I hear Megumi and Ezra calling out to me.

"We're in here!" I say as loudly as I dare, not wanting to hurt Takeshi's head by being too loud. The tent door is unzipped and Megumi crawls in, Ezra standing behind her. They both look extremely worried. Takeshi cranes his neck slightly. Megumi shuffles closer to us and pulls Takeshi from my arms. She wraps her arms around him and strokes his hair as he coughs hard into her chest. Megumi smiles and nods at me gratefully. I smile slightly back at her.

"Takeshi, you idiot… We told you to stay at home…" Megumi whispers, gently rocking her brother. She reaches out a hand and wipes the tears off of my cheeks. I glance at Ezra. He's frozen on the spot, staring, eyes wide with a mixture of terror and concern, at Takeshi. I try to make eye contact with him so that I can reassure him, but his eyes are fixed on Takeshi. The coughing has slowed and become less frequent, but Takeshi presses himself hard against Megumi between coughing fits, whimpering.

By the time Takeshi stops coughing, sunlight has begun to pour through the opening of the tent, seeping in through the sides, as well. Takeshi lays trembling in Megumi arms. Ezra takes his phone out of his pocket and flicks through it. He steps outside the tent and walks a few metres away. I hear him speaking quietly in English, and assume he must be on the the phone to Breckenridge-sensei, our Scottish-born Maths teacher. After a couple of minutes, he mutters a 'thank you' and hangs up.

He comes back over to us, "B-Breckenridge-sensei is o-on her w-way." he whispers, and Megumi nods. Takeshi's head snaps up and his eyes open.

"N-no… I s-said not t-to c-call a-anyone…" he says, shaking his head slightly. He winces.

"You need to get home and rest, Takeshi-kun." I state as calmly as possible. I'm glad of my ability to keep my voice steady now more than ever before. A frown creases across Takeshi's brow.

"I'm fine. You don't need to worry about me, Korin-chan." he says, but I can tell from the way he's changed the honorific he uses that he cares about the fact that I care about him and doesn't want me to worry, even though I clearly should be worried.

Megumi giggles, "Chan? You've never used that honorific for anyone outside the family before, Takeshi." she says lightly, and Takeshi scowls at her. It's somewhat comforting to see his usual 'leave me the fuck alone' expression back on his face, though it doesn't quell my concern much. Takeshi wriggles out of Megumi's embrace and leans heavily on his hands. He slowly peels away the now sweat-soaked sock that I put on his forehead earlier and looks at it. He wrinkles up his nose.

"You used your sock as a compress, Korin-chan?" he asks. I nod, and Megumi and Ezra start laughing.

"What?" I ask indignantly, "I didn't have anything else." Takeshi smiles slightly.

"It's fine, Korin-chan. That's the thing about you. You always mean well, even if you have a weird mind that compels you to use a wet sock as a compress."

"It's because she's so resourceful," A voice comes from just outside the tent. We all turn to the sound of the voice and see Breckenridge-sensei smiling at us, her eyes filled with concern, "You'll change the world one day, Korin-san. And you probably won't even realise it." I feel an embarrassed flush rising on my cheeks. I'm not used to having so many compliments.

"Yeah, that's about right," Megumi says, "I'm not sure what would have happened if Takeshi had been paired with someone else, and I don't think I want to know."

Breckenridge-sensei nods, "Let's get you home, Takeshi-san. I've called your parents, and your father is on his way to collect you." She nods at me. "You did well, Korin-san. Not many people would've handled the situation so well. You're a lot like your father." She reaches out her hand to help Takeshi up. He shakes his head. Breckenridge-sensei moves out of the tent to give us some space. I crawl out and I'm quickly followed by Takeshi. He drags himself out, scrambling out of his sleeping bag once he's out of the tent and standing up shakily. Megumi follows him out.

"How long is there until the trip is over, Breckenridge-sensei?" she asks, and Breckenridge-sensei glances at her watch.

"You should probably be making your way back to the meeting point now. You've got ten minutes." she says, and Megumi frowns slightly.

"Can we come with you? My Dad's collecting Korin-chan and Ezra-kun, too, so it would make sense for us to go back with you." she says, and Breckenridge-sensei nods.

"That would make sense. Yes, of course you can come with me." she says. The five of us begin to walk back towards the meeting point at the edge of the forest, with Megumi supporting Takeshi, and me carrying his rucksack as well as mine.

It doesn't take long to get back to the meeting point, but, when we arrive, our entire year group and two teachers begin staring at us. Whispers begin to ripple through the crowd. Beside me, Ezra tenses. I slip my hand into his and squeeze it. He glances back towards me and smiles slightly. I nod at him and we look forwards again. No one is looking at us, though. Everyone's eyes are fixed on Takeshi, and the majority of them are filled with nothing but concern. I glance at Takeshi and see that his eyes are beginning to close as his head rests against Megumi's shoulder. Some parents have gathered, too, and I catch a few words of their hushed conversations, the most common being 'the Akiyamas' youngest boy', 'Yokai' and 'awful parenting'. I scowl at people whenever I hear them saying something bad about the Akiyamas.

After about two minutes of standing on the edge of the crowd (Breckenridge-sensei has left us to talk to some parents and tick off my classmates as they leave), Mr Akiyama comes over to us.

"Hey, you two," he says to Megumi and Takeshi, then glances at Ezra and I. "Hello. Your father asked me to collect you today because he's with a client." I nod.

"Thank you." I say. Megumi shakes her head.

"You shouldn't be thanking him, Korin-chan. He should be thanking you." Mr Akiyama frowns slightly.

"Why is that, Megumi?" he asks, and Megumi explains to him how I looked after Takeshi.

Once Megumi has finished speaking, Mr Akiyama smiles warmly at me.

"My daughter is right, Korin-san. I should most certainly be thanking you. Our family is now indebted to yours. If there is ever anything you need help with, you need only ask." he says, and I smile.

"There _is_ one thing I want to know…" I say, trailing off as I reach the end of the sentence. Mr Akiyama gestures for me to ask. I shake my head. "I'll ask once we're in the car, so that the rest of the class doesn't hear." Mr Akiyama nods with a smile. He wraps his arm around Takeshi and the five of us make our way to the car.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

Once we're in the car, with Mr Akiyama and Ezra in the front and me, Megumi and Takeshi in the back, Mr Akiyama pulls away. Breckenridge-sensei waves to us as we go, smiling brightly as usual.

"What was it you wanted to ask, Korin-san?" Mr Akiyama asks. I frown.

"Takeshi-kun said that it was a Yokai that made him ill. I want to know what happened." I say, and Mr Akiyama sighs.

"I suppose I should've guessed from the fact that you didn't want to ask in front of your peers that it would be something along those lines." he says.

Takeshi leans forward and smiles at me, "It's a long story involving the family almost dying. Are you sure you want to hear?" I nod.

Megumi starts talking before Takeshi or Mr Akiyama have a chance, "We'd had reports of a Yokai about half way up the mountain terrorising people, so we decided to put an end to it. It wasn't what we were expecting, though. It was a Kijo. They're evil and twisted in life, and become monstrous moments before death, turning them into some of the most powerful Yokai out there. They're immortal, too, unless they're killed, so they have forever to gather knowledge and they know their home areas better than almost any others. This particular Kijo was an expert in deadly poisons and hand-to-hand combat. She'd knocked out all of us expect Takeshi. I'm not sure what happened after I got knocked out, but when I came to…" Megumi trails of sadly. Mr Akiyama picks up from where she left off.

"We were all in the local hospital hooked up to various machines. Takeshi had had a vial of a completely unknown poison smashed against his hip, and the poison had got into his bloodstream. He'd continued to fight, even with such an injury. Eventually he managed to single-handedly exorcise one of the most dangerous Yokai ever to walk the planet." By the time Mr Akiyama has finished talking, Ezra is staring, awestruck, at Takeshi. Takeshi is blushing hard.

"You're really brave, Takeshi-kun." I say, and Takeshi smiles at me.

"Th-thank you, Korin-chan." Mr Akiyama glances over his shoulder and raises his eyebrows. Megumi giggles and whispers something that I can't quite hear. Takeshi obviously does, though, because he glares at her.

"Shut up, Megumi." he says coldly. Megumi pouts.

"But you guys would be cute together!" she whines petulantly. I resist the urge to wrinkle my nose in disgust.

"He's not my type." I say, shaking my head slightly. Megumi giggles.

"What is your type?" she asks teasingly.

"That's none of your business, Megumi-chan." I shake my head as I speak. Megumi pokes her tongue out at me as Mr Akiyama pulls up in their driveway.

"I'll get Takeshi inside, and then I'll help the two of you with your rucksacks." Mr Akiyama says.

"There's no need to help with mine, thank you. Takeshi-kun was being stubborn and carried everything himself." I say, and Mr Akiyama shakes his head and lets out an exasperated sigh. It's clear that he's used to Takeshi being the noble, stubborn type who will do anything to make the lives of others easier.

"Will you be okay with your bag, Ezra-san?" he asks, and Ezra nods.

"Yes, thank you, Akiyama-san." he says quietly, and Mr Akiyama nods.

"You're welcome. I'll see you later, then, if you're okay to go back by yourselves." he says.

"They're literally ten seconds away from their house, Dad." Megumi points out as we clamber out of the car and grab our bags. She hugs me and Ezra without giving either of us a chance to get away.

"Ask people before you hug them, Megumi." Takeshi says, obviously noticing that neither Ezra nor I like being hugged. Megumi pulls away.

"Sorry! I'll see you at school tomorrow, or maybe I'll come over later!" she bubbles, before lifting Takeshi's arm and draping it over her shoulder. He leans against her, though he's supporting himself much better than he was earlier. The Akiyamas go over to their front door. Mr Akiyama knocks on it twice and, after a few moments, Satoshi opens it. His cheeks are flushed red, his belt undone and his glasses lopsided. I grimace. Megumi looks round at me like _Can you believe this guy?_ I stick my tongue out at her.

Ezra and I make our way across the drive and round the fence so that we're in our own drive, and make our way to the door. Ezra taps it gently with his fist, and I know that no one will have heard it, so I punch the door with the side of my pinky finger.

"_Coming!_" Xander yells from inside, and within thirty seconds he's at the door and is sliding it open. I hear a soft crashing sound and turn my head towards it. A boy, maybe a couple of years older than Satoshi and Jase, is creeping out of the back door of the Akiyamas' house as quietly as he seems to be able. He catches me, Xander and Ezra looking at him and looks like a rabbit caught in a car's headlights for a moment, before sprinting off down the road.

Ezra and I walk into the house after Xander.

"_What do you reckon that boy was doing in there?_" Ezra asks quietly with a slight giggle. I shrug.

"_It was obviously bothering Satoshi. I'm not sure whether that was because he didn't want him there or because he didn't want him to go, though." _I reply. We both start laughing. Xander looks round at us in confusion.

"_I don't get it…_" he says. I shake my head.

"_You'll understand one day._" Ezra says, which causes us to laugh even harder. Xander shakes his head at us.

"_You guys are so weird._" he says. He grabs my hand and begins to drag me to my bedroom. Once Ezra's out of earshot, he speaks. "_Chiasa got lonely without you, so I've spent the whole time you were gone chatting to her._" I'm slightly confused for a moment, but then I remember that Hanako used her human name, Chiasa, to introduce herself to Xander.

"_Do you two get on well?_" I ask. Xander nods enthusiastically.

"_Chiasa's brilliant. She's like you, but funny and cool._" I frown slightly.

"_Did you realise that you were insulting me just then, Xander?_" I ask, and Xander nods.

"_You always say that honesty's the best policy. I'm just being honest._" I roll my eyes at what an idiot my brother is as we reach my bedroom. I open the door and step inside.

"Hanako-chan! I'm home!" I yell, swinging my rucksack off of my back and dumping it on the floor. The bathroom door swings open and Hanako races out, literally throwing herself at me. She tackles me into a bear hug and squeezes me as tightly as she can.

"Korin-nee-chan! I would have missed you, but I was talking to Xander-kun and he's cooler than you, so I didn't get lonely." I frown. What's with all of the kids I know dissing me all of a sudden? I'm happy, though, at the same time. Xander has a hard time making friends because he can come across as sulky and spoilt (which is fair because it's true), and Hanako doesn't get to socialise much because people are automatically afraid of her and lots of the other Yokai don't accept her because she's pretty much powerless. Even the other Toilet Hanakos don't accept her because she's from the 21st century and the majority of the rest of them died during World War Two. I smile slightly and stroke Hanako's hair fondly.

"I didn't really have time to miss you, Hanako-chan. I'm sure I would've missed you, though, if I hadn't been so busy." Hanako looks up at me and pouts.

"What do you mean, you didn't miss me?" she asks petulantly. "Of course you missed me." I shake my head.

"The person I was paired with didn't feel well, and I was too busy looking after him to miss anyone." Hanako frowns.

"Are they okay? I don't like it when people are hurt or sad."

"He was injured badly and poisoned while fighting a Yokai," I tell her. She gasps, stepping back. "His sister is the girl I saved you from." Hanako frowns.

"I didn't like that girl. She was scary when she started searching everywhere in your bedroom to try and find Yokai." she says. Xander giggles.

"That was really funny, because she found mouldy sausages under Korin's bed!" he says. Hanako laughs lightly.

"That _was_ funny." she admits. I shake my head.

"Those were not my sausages. I was set up," I defend myself, knowing full well that it's all lies. "I would've eaten them before they went mouldy if I'd known they were there!" Hanako and Xander share a weird look which unnerves me slightly. I feel as if the conversations they've had while I was gone went much deeper than just keeping each other company.

"Sure you were set up, Korey…" Xander says with a smirk. I blink twice in shock. I've never seen Xander smirk before! He's obviously picked it up from Hanako.

"Okay, okay. It was me. I'm going to go next door and get my 3DS back from Satoshi. I'll see you two midgets in a few minutes." I ruffle Xander's hair before walking out of the room and running along the corridor. I slip my shoes back on and walk out of the front door. I leap over the fence and walk to the Akiyamas' front door. I knock on it a few times and wait.

After about a minute or so, the door opens. Satoshi is standing in the doorway holding my 3DS.

"I figured you'd be round to get this back soon, Korin-chan." he says softly, running his fingers through his hair. I wrinkle my nose in disgust.

"Thanks, Satoshi-kun," I say, reaching out and taking the handheld from him. I smirk slightly as I remember something. "By the way… Who was that boy who left just after we got back?" I ask. Satoshi flushes a vibrant shade of crimson.

"Th-that's none of your business, Korin-chan…" he mutters, avoiding making eye contact with me. I grin broadly.

"It's okay, Satoshi-kun. Your secret is safe with me. I won't tell anyone." I say. Satoshi's eyes flicker around, constantly changing his line of sight to various parts of the area surrounding my head. He raises his trembling hands and removes his glasses, bringing them down to the bottom of his shirt and rubbing the lenses clean. I bite back laughter. He couldn't possibly make it more obvious what was going on unless he hung a neon sign around his neck stating what happened and was shouting through a megaphone to declare it to the world.

"It's none of your business, Korin-chan." he repeats. I sigh.

"You honestly couldn't be making it more obvious, Satoshi-kun. I seriously don't care what was happening. I just wanted to confirm my suspicions." I say softly, trying to reassure him. It's clear I've made him uncomfortable, and I don't want to ruin our friendship. When he's not being a flirtatious moron, we actually get on quite well. "I'll see you later." I shove his shoulder playfully and he shoves me back, smiling. I wave as I leap (as gracefully as an alpaca on crack) over the fence, missing my footing and faceplanting.

"Are you okay, Korin-chan?" Satoshi asks, and in moments he's on my side of the fence, helping me up. I nod with a grin.

"I actually kind of like pain…" I say, and Satoshi regards me with slight concern for a moment.

"You sounded like a totally creepy sadist just then, Korin-chan." he says, and I poke my tongue out at him. He pulls a crumpled tissue out of his pocket. "You're bleeding." He dabs at my forehead with the tissue.

"I hope that tissue's clean." I say, and Satoshi grins at me.

"You really think I'd wipe an open wound with a used tissue?" he asks, then holds his hand over his heart. "I'm hurt that you'd think such things about me, Korin-chan!" I laugh.

"I have to go. Places to go, ramen to eat. The usual."

"I believe the phrase you're looking for is 'Places to go, people to see', Korin-chan." Satoshi says, giving me a _You adorable little weirdo_ look. I shrug.

"You can't expect me to get things right. I'm hungry." Satoshi laughs at me and climbs back over the fence.

"See you around, Korin-chan." he says, disappearing back into his house and closing the door.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

"I can't believe we've only known each other for a month, Korin-nee-chan," Hanako says to me as she, Xander and I walk through the forest. "It feels like we've known each other for years." I nod with a smile.

"Yeah, it does. Can you believe that Xander and I have only lived here for seven weeks?" Hanako stares at us with her mouth open.

"You'd only been here for three weeks when you saved me? I thought you'd moved in a couple of years ago! It definitely seems like it, from how close you and that onmyoji girl are." Hanako shudders when she mentions Megumi.

"I don't think Xander had even spoken to anyone apart from the Akiyamas by the time you two first met." Hanako frowns at Xander.

"Why not?" Xander shrugs.

"There wasn't anyone I wanted to talk to. I don't like the Akiyamas. Satoshi's a creepy flirt like Jase and Takeshi's really scary and Megumi's too loud."

Hanako nods, "Agreed. That girl needs to calm down and step away from the fizzy drinks." I laugh, and so does someone else. The three of us look behind us. Xander screams and practically leaps into Hanako's arms. He buries his face in her neck and she smiles and wraps her arms around him.

"Hey, Yuki-san," I say. "How are you? I haven't seen you in a while."

Yuki smiles at me, "I'm doing great, Korin-chan. I heard about what happened on your orienteering trip. I'm impressed that you handled the situation so well."

I smile at her. "Thanks. How are Mariko and the others doing?"

"Why don't you see for yourself? Mariko, Bunko and Satsuki aren't far away. Come on, I'll take you to them." she says. I tilt my head in confusion.

"Who's Satsuki?" I ask.

"A Bake-Neko who really needs to mature a little. She's over a thousand years old, and yet she acts like a teenager." I laugh a little.

"This is Xander, by the way," I say to Yuki as I point at Xander, still cowering in Hanako's arms. "He's my little brother." Yuki crouches down in front of him.

"Hey, Xander-kun. I'm Yuki," Xander's lips flicker into a momentary smile. "There's nothing to be afraid of. I won't hurt you."

"He was like this the first time he spoke to Hanako, too." I say apologetically, shaking my head slightly.

"It's fine. I'm sure he hasn't met many Yokai before. It's only natural to fear the unknown."

"H-hello, Yuki-san." Xander says, his voice shrinking to almost nothing and being swallowed by the wind whistling through the trees.

Yuki smiles kindly at Xander, "Let's head towards the others now. Satsuki's been begging to meet you since her last conversation with Kirin-sama." I smile, embarrassed by the fame I seem to have earned amongst the Yokai.

"Sure. Let's go, guys!" I grab Xander's hand in my left and place my right on Hanako's head. The four of us walk off back the way we came, with Yuki leading.

It takes about a minute to reach Mariko, Bunko and another girl, with dark brown hair coiled around her shoulders and feline ears protruding from the top of her head. Her tail flicks from side to side as she chats and laughs with Mariko and Bunko.

"I'm back, guys," Yuki says, and the three girls look up from whatever it is they're doing. "I brought company, too."

"Hey, Korin-chan, Hanako-chan!" Mariko says cheerfully. She looks at Xander. "You must be Xander. It's not like I've been stalking your sister or anything." Yuki, Mariko, Bunko and I all laugh.

The girl with cat ears, I recognise her now as the Bake-Neko that the boy who used to have my room photographed frequently, looks curiously at me. "Are you Belododia Korin?" she asks. I nod. "So cool. Kirin-sama said that it'd be dead without you. You pretty much saved the entire forest without even realising. Bruh, that's legit." Mariko scribbles on the paper in front of her and holds the sheet up behind the Bake-Neko's head. It reads, in English, _Stoner alert!_ I bite my lip to hide my amusement.

"Korin-chan, this is Satsuki-chan. She's one of the elders, however young she may seem." Yuki says. To be honest, I wouldn't have guessed that Satsuki was that old if Yuki hadn't told me. Without the cat ears and tail, she just looks like a regular 21st century teenager, complete with sweatpants and a baggy tshirt. She seems to act like one, too. I highly doubt there are many other Yokai, however old, who would use the word 'bruh' and say that something is 'legit'. In fact, I've never even heard the words used in real life before.

"Growing old is mandatory, but I'm never going to grow up. Seriously. You should get out more, Yuki-chan." Satsuki says with a cheerful smile, flicking her tail from side to side. I feel curiosity rising within me, and I wonder how she manages to keep her tail out of her sweatpants without them falling down or low riding. My confusion obviously shows on my (entirely tactless) face, because Satsuki grins at me. "I cut a hole in the back of them and stuck my tail through it. It's so much more comfortable than a skirt." I laugh at the carefree way she says it, as though she honestly doesn't care if I judge her for it. She grins at me.

I sit down beside Mariko, "So what are the updates on how Kirin's doing?" I ask. Mariko, Bunko and Satsuki all turn to look at Yuki. I follow their line of sight.

"Kirin-sama is recovering well. One of the less… Homicidal… Kijos has begun mixing some poultices to aid the recovery." I nod, smiling, and turn back to Bunko.

"So hey, Bunko-san, I heard you're clever. Like, really clever," I take my pen and copy of our set text from school out of my pocket, alongside a sheet of extremely crumpled paper. "Would you mind helping me find some quotes? It's for my homework." Bunko frowns at me and purses her lips.

"It's not a quote, it's a quotation. To quote- verb. A _quotation_ is a phrase or sentence with some sort of meaning. You want me to find some _quotations _for you." she says. Mariko grimaces and Satsuki facepalms. Xander just stares at her, dumbfounded. I have the nerve to giggle, even while knowing full well that Bunko could easily kill me with a click of her fingers.

"Yeah, pretty much. I just need, like, five _quotes_," I put emphasis on the word, "About anthropomorphic descriptions." Bunko sucks in air through her teeth. Mariko snorts into her hand and Satsuki grins from ear to ear. There is a cracking sound and the air temperature drops suddenly. I look around in shock and see that the ground beneath Bunko is beginning to freeze, and the frost is spreading further and further away from her. Yuki frowns at me and Xander scrambles away in a panic. Hanako runs after him, grabs his shoulder and hugs him tight. Satsuki raises her right hand to her mouth and blows between her index and middle fingers. A short stream of fire shoots out of her mouth melts the ice. Satsuki waves her hands and the flames die instantaneously. My eyes widen in surprise. To be honest, I don't know much about Bake-Nekos, and I certainly didn't know that they were capable of spitting fire.

"You shouldn't be impressed, Korin-chan," Satsuki says cheerfully, "That was nothing."

Mariko shudders, "Seriously, Korin-chan, try not to annoy anyone too much. When you hang out with us, you're putting yourself at risk. None of us would ever do anything to hurt you intentionally, but some of our powers are volatile. If it had just been you and Bunko-chan, you would be slowly turning into an ice sculpture, and Bunko wouldn't be able to reverse it." She sounds so genuinely concerned for my safety and well being that I almost cry. Xander whimpers into Hanako's chest. Hanako frowns at Mariko, Bunko and Satsuki, probably because they're scaring Xander so much.

"Sorry." I say softly to Bunko. She nods with a slight frown. She snatches my homework out of my hand and begins flicking through the book, scribbling things down every so often.

"Typical Bunko-chan." Satsuki says, rolling her eyes. She makes eye contact with Hanako. "I heard that an onmyoji got hold of your 3DS. Did you get it back yet?" Hanako shakes her head sadly.

"We're still working on that." I say. Satsuki nods.

"I would let you borrow mine, Hanako-chan, but I've just restarted Fire Emblem: Awakening and I've kind of been devoting my life to it."

"She's not kidding!" Mariko exclaims, "Seriously, the other day a group of us disguised ourselves as humans and went into town, but Satsuki-chan didn't come with us because she was playing FEA." I smile.

"I understand. When I was in Lubeck, I was the most unpopular person in the class because I left a house party early- at, like, half past seven- because there was a new anime starting that I was having streamed to my laptop." I say, and Satsuki laughs.

"That is exactly the sort of thing I would do!" she exclaims, and we grin at each other.

Yuki groans, "Why did I introduce you two to each other?" she asks, and Mariko shakes her head.

"Because you knew that they would get along, and, deep down, you care about them both." Bunko says, not even looking up from my homework. Hanako giggles.

"Of course she cares about Korin-nee-chan. Everyone likes Korin-nee-chan." she says. I smile and blush at the compliment.

"That's not true, Korey had literally no friends in Vienna." Xander says quietly with a giggle, his voice trembling slightly.

I clench my fists, "Oh my gods! Why does everyone keep bringing that up? Seriously! Shut up about Vienna already!"

"I'm not sure if I should ask or not…"

"Don't ask, Mariko-chan."

"I'm asking."

"And I'm not telling," I say, and Mariko turns slightly and makes eye contact with Xander. I glance at him and see that he's grinning wickedly. "And you're not telling anyone either, Xander!" Xander's grin widens.

"So basically-"

"Alexander James Belododia, if you say another word I will tell Dad that you were the one who cut the string in Ezra's piano last year." I threaten loudly. Xander tenses and shuts his mouth instantly. Mariko gasps.

"Why would you do that?" she asks, "Ezra-kun's such a cutie!" I raise my eyebrows at her.

"Have you been stalking the rest of my family as well as me?" I ask. She shrugs.

"I couldn't help but notice that your older brother is an annoying moron, but your twin is beautiful. Seriously."

"Ezra snores really loudly." Xander reveals, his nose crinkled. It's clear that he either doesn't like Mariko or doesn't want Ezra to get a girlfriend. Bunko, Satsuki, Yuki and I all start laughing.

"That's fine. I don't really care. Anyway, Bunko snores." Mariko says with a shrug. Bunko begins denying it.

"It's not fine when you have to share a room with him like I do. It's really annoying." Xander says.

"To be honest, snoring is the loudest thing he ever does." I say, but instantly feel guilty about it. How could I say something so mean about him, even if it is the truth?

"He _is_ gorgeous, though, with his soft sable waves, his perfectly even tan and his steely eyes…" Mariko sighs.

"He doesn't have a tan. That's his natural skin tone. Our mother's Greek." I say. Mariko smiles.

"He's flawless _and _multicultural! My parents would be proud if of me, finding someone so perfect…"

"What is she on about?" Xander asks.

Bunko shakes her head, "Her parents always stressed the importance of discovering and fitting into as many different cultures as possible." Xander tilts his head to the side in confusion.

"I didn't know Yokai had parents…" Satsuki laughs at his comment.

"Most of us were human, originally. Everyone here died a painful or gruesome death, except for me." she explains.

"How come you didn't?" Xander asks.

"I was never human. I was a cat, owned and loved by the great Emperor Uda. I lived longer than most cats, and my tail grew exceptionally long, giving me more power and intelligence than other cats. Over the centuries, I became more and more humanoid and more and more powerful. I was one of the first Bake-Nekos." Satsuki says, and Xander's jaw literally drops in shock. My eyes widen and I grin.

"That is so cool. I can't believe I'm actually talking to the cat owned by Emperor Uda!" I bubble, squealing excitedly.

Yuki facepalms, "Great job, Satsuki-chan. You've triggered a fangirl attack. I hope you're proud."

"Guys… I think I broke the human…"


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

The four of us sit in the living room, wondering why it is that Dad has called us for a family meeting. The door slides open and Dad walks in, grinning broadly.

"_Hey, kids,_" he says cheerfully, "_You'll never guess what._" At those words, Jase, Ezra and I roll our eyes. We've heard those words so many times that we know what comes next. Xander perks up.

"_Mum's coming to stay?_" he asks, and Dad nods.

"_She wants to meet all of your friends and see how you're doing. She's arranged a seven night trip for us and some friends to go to a hot springs resort in Hakone._" Xander begins to get very excited. Not at the prospect of going to a hot springs resort, but at the fact that Mum's going to be coming to stay soon.

"_When's she coming?_" Jase asks, sounding slightly worried. He doesn't get on with Mum that well because she doesn't approve of the number of girlfriends he's had in the past three years. I raise my eyebrows at him. Dad always waits until a day or two before Mum arrives, which would make sense, because the half-term holidays start on Saturday.

"_Her flight gets in tomorrow,_" Dad says with a smile, "_One of my clients has said we can have his old cot, because his daughter's eight and doesn't need it. Emmie's going to be in with you, Kor._" I frown and wrinkle my nose in disgust.

"_Why me? Can't she share with you and Mum?_" I ask, and Dad shakes his head. Jase smirks at me.

"_You're good with her._" Dad says.

"_That doesn't change the fact that I hate children. If she wakes me up in the middle of the night, I will gag her and go back to sleep._" I say. Ezra giggles into his hand.

"_Emmie can come in with me and Ezra!_" Xander says, and Dad nods.

"_Are you okay with that, Ezra?_" Ezra nods, still laughing. Dad claps his hands together. "_That's settled, then! Pick who you want to bring with you to Hakone. Make sure you ask their parents._"

"_Can I bring Satoshi?_" Jase asks, and Dad nods.

"_As long as his parents are okay with it._" he says. "_Are you going to bring Megumi, Korin?_" I nod.

"_I'll bring Takeshi._" Ezra says.

"_Akiyama-ception!_" Jase and I say at exactly the same time. We share a look and the five of us burst out laughing.

"_I may as well invite Hiroaki and Mai, in that case,_" Dad says. "_Who are you going to invite, Xander?_" Xander smiles blissfully before answering, and I know immediately which name he's going to say.

"_I want to bring Chiasa._" he says with a gleeful smile. I smile at his blatant adoration for Hanako. Jase wolf whistles.

"_Xander's got a girlfriend!_" he teases, and Xander pokes his tongue out at him.

"_Shut up, Jase. She's not my girlfriend._" he says grumpily, pouting in a way that makes him look at least three years younger than he is. I laugh.

"_You say that now, but it's obvious you like her. I've seen the way you look at her._" I say, pinching Xander's cheek gently.

"_Shut up, Kor! I don't like her like that!_" he protests, and Dad snorts.

"_Young love is a beautiful thing._" he says with a warm smile. "_Alright, off you go. I'm sure you have homework. I'm just going to pop across to talk to Hiroaki._"

"_Do you want me to ask Chiasa's parents if she can come? I have her mum's number._" I lie smoothly. I plan on calling Yuki and finding out if there are any Yokai who could pass as Hanako's parents to convince Dad.

"_Yes, please, Korin. Give me her number, too, please._" he says. I nod.

"_I've got it saved into my phone. I'll give it to you later._" I say, and Dad smiles at me.

"_Okay. See you guys later._" With that, Dad leaves the room.

"_See you weirdos later. I've got a date._" Jase says, before standing up and leaving. Ezra rolls his eyes.

"_Bye, guys._" I say, and run off back to my room.

When I open my bedroom door, there is a sudden scramble as Hanako tries to cover up whatever it is she was doing. I stride over to my bed and pull the covers back. Laying there, now uncovered, is a small bottle of sake. I look up at Hanako.

"Explain, now." I say, pointing to the bottle. Hanako flushes scarlet.

"W-well… You see…"

"Don't tell her off, girl." I look down and see that the sake bottle has opened its eyes. It takes me a moment to realise that _sake bottles don't have eyes_.

"Woah… What's going on?" I ask. The sake bottle stands up.

"I was getting a little worried, because on my trip to spy on the onmyoji family next door, I heard the girl talking to her brother about setting up anti-Yokai wards in here. I came to warn Hanako-san." it says, and I frown.

"Why would Megumi do that? She doesn't have any reason to suspect that there are Yokai living here."

"She's worried that you would let them stay in your room and end up getting yourself killed, Korin-nee-chan." Hanako says quietly, with a slight teasing smile.

"That's stupid. I wouldn't let anyone I didn't trust completely in here." I say, and Hanako smiles at me for a second. She comes forward slightly and leans into my body. I wrap my arms around her.

"You seem to be a very trusting person, Korin-san." the sake bottle says, and I shake my head.

"I'm not. I've just done a lot of research and I know that Tsukumogami are pranksters, but won't actually hurt people, and I'd played Pokémon with Hanako-chan, so I technically knew her and guessed from her defensive battling style that she didn't like hurting people." I say. The sake bottle smiles at me, which is slightly creepy because most sake bottles don't have mouths to smile with.

"It is as Yuki-sama and Kirin-sama said. You will be the revolutionary who saves us as the mascot of the war." it says. I beam at the compliment, but suddenly realise what it actually said.

"Hold up… When did I agree to being a mascot of war, exactly?" I ask. The sake bottle chortles in the way my grandfather used to.

"You didn't. I was just checking that you were listening." it tells me. I roll my eyes.

"Good. I'm not getting involved in any sort of war," I say. "And neither is Hanako-chan."

"I'm older than you, technically." Hanako says.

"Cool. But you're nine years old physically, and I'm fifteen years old physically, which makes me older than you." I say.

"Yeah, but my sixteenth birthday is on the 21st. When's yours? I think I'm older." I gasp.

"Why didn't you tell me that sooner? I haven't got you a present!" I exclaim. Hanako shrugs.

"It didn't seem important. I've haven't celebrated my birthday since I died, and I'm fine with that."

"Are you kidding? We _have _to celebrate! It's your sixteenth birthday! Of course, we'll tell everyone that it's your tenth, but still!" I pull away from the hug and grin at Hanako.

"Can I wear your Pikachu onesie?" she asks slyly. I nod. "Can I have a Bulbasaur cake?"

"I'll see what I can do. I can't guarantee the cake, but you can definitely wear my onesie." I say. Hanako grins.

"So anyway… I heard some of the conversation between you and your family… You'd better be inviting me on the holiday." Hanako says. I nod.

"Of course we are. I'm going to find out if there are any Yokai who look like human adults who could pretend to be your parents, just so that my Dad has someone to ask if you can come."

"Yay! Who else are you inviting?" I hesitate and consider not telling her, by I think better of it.

"The Akiyamas are coming, which means you'll have to spend a week with five onmyoji. Are you okay with that?" Hanako looks a little nervous, but nods all the same.

"I'm fine with that. Megumi-san won't recognise me, will she?" she asks. I shake my head.

"If you were more powerful, like Yuki-chan, you would be more noticeable. She emits an aura of power. You can tell just from looking at her that she's not human. It's not like that with you."

"Are you saying I'm weak?" Hanako asks. I raise my eyebrows.

"How often do you insult me?"

"Every day…"

"And how often do I complain about it?"

"... Never…"

"Exactly. So shut up."

"Sorry, Korey." Hanako says. I glare at her.

"Only Xander calls me Korey." Hanako giggles.

"Okay, Kor. I won't call you Korey anymore." I sigh and roll my eyes. The sake bottle clears its throat. Hanako and I look over at it.

"Korin-san, can we please talk about the more pressing matter of the wards your onmyoji friends are threatening to put up?" it says. I nod.

"Yeah, sure. Sorry." I say. "I can probably convince Satoshi-kun to help me convince Megumi-chan and Takeshi-kun. He's more malleable than them."

"That's good. I hope you can succeed. I've lived in this house since just after it was built. It's my birthplace. I was a housewarming gift to the house's first owners."

"That's cool," I say. Suddenly, a question pops into my mind. "What would happen if someone mistook you for a normal bottle and refilled you and tried to drink from you?" The bottle of sake stares at me as if I'm crazy.

"Then I would have a beverage of some description sloshing around inside me until it was removed, and someone's mouth would close around my neck. I find it rather uncomfortable." it says slowly, eying me warily.

"How do you know what it feels like?" I ask. Hanako giggles.

"Because it has happened to me on multiple occasions." I clamp my teeth around my hand to try and contain my laughter. Hanako has tears of mirth streaming down her cheeks. The sake bottle is not amused. "This is no laughing matter!" it exclaims. I wave my hand in front of my face apologetically.

"I'm sorry. I know it's not funny. I'm just really immature." I say.

The sake bottle smiles warmly at me, "The fact that you can admit that means that you are much more mature than you think."

"Thanks," I say. "I need to talk to Yuki-chan now. Do either of you know how to contact her without going to the forest." Hanako nods and takes a bobby pin out of her hair. She bends it out so that it's stretched out straight. She closes her eyes and, holding the bobby pin like a pen, writes something in the air. Her tongue pokes out of the corner of her mouth as she concentrates, and the bobby pin leaves a trail of gold floating in the air before her. The wind outside picks up and blows through the windows, chilling me to the bone. I shudder and look towards the window.

"Can I come in, please?" Yuki asks, leaning on the window sill from the outside. I nod. "Many thanks. What can I do for you?" I sigh and begin to ask her about other Yokai.

After an hour or so, we've sorted the problem. Yuki sends a message on the wind to a man she knows whose father is a Yokai and mother is human. He and his wife (both of whom are in their thirties) agree to pretending to be Hanako's parents. Yuki puts the woman's mobile number into my phone.

"Now that that's sorted, who wants to go out for ramen?" Yuki asks. Hanako and I both perk up, grinning. "My treat." The sake bottle mumbles something about Tsukumogami always getting left out of social gatherings as the three of us leave, grinning, with Hanako and I both intending to binge eat the best quality ramen Yuki can afford.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

"Korin-chan, can I come over to your house? Your mum arrived today, didn't she?" Megumi asks excitedly. I nod.

"Yeah, sure. Just as long as you're okay with the fact that she will hug you and pinch your cheeks and treat you as though you're about five years younger than you are. Also, my baby sister Esmeralda is with her." I say.

"You have a baby sister? Why didn't you tell me?" Megumi squeals. I roll my eyes.

"You didn't ask."

"Wait… How come your mum and sister don't live with you?" Takeshi asks.

"Mum only speaks English, Greek and Romanian." I say with a shrug.

"Only? That's more than I speak." Megumi says.

"Yeah, but that's because you live in the country your family is from. My mum's Greek, married to a Romanian and lives in England." I explain.

"How many languages do you speak, Korin-chan?" Megumi asks me.

I count them off on my fingers as I speak, "I'm fluent in English and Romanian, almost fluent in Greek, and proficient in German and Japanese. I tried to learn French, but it's actually a pretty boring language to learn and it sounds too delicate. I can say that I don't speak the language in five or six other languages. Dad and Ezra are better." I say. Megumi sighs.

"You're so lucky to have been able to learn so many different languages. I wish _my _parents worked in foreign countries and took me with them."

"Yeah, I am lucky," I agree with a smile, "Although it would have been better if I was better at making friends." Takeshi lets out a laugh.

"Everyone's lives would be easier if they were better at making friends." he says. The bus stops and the three of us get off, with Jase and Satoshi, who had been sitting at the back, getting off behind us.

"Excited about seeing Mum?" Jase asks me. I shrug.

"I wouldn't say _excited_. I've got used to not having her around. I don't really notice anymore." I admit. Satoshi frowns.

"That's awful. I'd hate not having my mum around." he says. Jase scowls at the floor.

"You wouldn't if you had our mother." he says bitterly. I roll my eyes. Jase only hates Mum because she expects him to be more mature than the rest of us because he's the oldest.

"Why's that, Jase-kun?" Megumi asks, sounding genuinely concerned.

"She expects him to have a certain amount of maturity due to the fact that he's the oldest." I say. Satoshi rolls his eyes.

"At the age of seven, I was babysit Megumi and Takeshi while our parents were out working. They would leave us on our own overnight to go up the mountain if there had been a single walker dead in the past month. I think I probably had it harder than you." he says exasperatedly. I smirk and let out a small laugh. Satoshi makes eye contact with me and there is an awkward silence. I feel like he still doesn't trust me entirely.

Jase swings the gate open and the five of us walk along the path to the house. I take my key out of my pocket and unlock the door. We all enter , take our shoes off and dump our bags, before walking through to the living room. We open the door and six pairs of eyes find us. Mum stands up and comes over to the door.

"_Korin, Jase, my little babies… I haven't seen you in ages! You've both grown!_" she says, wrapping her arms around the two of us. We both desperately try to wriggle out of her grip. I manage to pull away, and make eye contact with her.

"_A month and a half isn't that long, Mum._" I say, and Jase nods beside me.

"_Korin's right, for once._" he says. Mum frowns slightly. She looks over at Takeshi, Satoshi and Megumi.

"_You three must be Hiroaki and Mai's children. Hello. I'm Arethusa._" I glance over my shoulder and see that there are three identical looks of confusion directed at Mum.

"_They don't speak English that well._" I tell Mum, and she nods. I turn to the Akiyama siblings. "My mum says hello." Megumi nods.

"_Hello, Mrs Belododia._" Satoshi says slowly (the word 'hello' comes out as 'herro', which is so cute it makes me want to squeal and hug him, but I exercise self control and restrain myself). I look over at Dad and see that he's holding little Emmie in his arms. He makes eye contact with me and turns Emmie round. She shrieks happily and reaches her chubby arms out towards me. I grimace. Megumi runs over to Dad, cooing about how cute Emmie is.

"She's adorable! Can I hold her?" she asks excitedly. Dad nods. He places Emmie gently in Megumi's arms.

"Megumi, this is Esmeralda," he says. "Emmie, this is Megumi." Emmie gurgles and reaches a pudgy hand out to touch Megumi's face.

"Hey there, Emmie-chan!" Megumi says in an incredibly annoying (more so than usual, in fact), high pitched voice, lifting Emmie up and down and loosening her grip fractionally on occasion. Emmie shrieks with happy laughter. Mum and Mrs Akiyama share a look and smile. Takeshi and I make eye contact.

"Run for your life, Korin-chan! The mothers are making friends!" he says in a hushed undertone in my ear. I laugh and we grin at each other. He coughs a little for a few seconds. Mum's head whips around and her eyes lock onto him. Her eyebrows and furrowed in concern.

"_Are you feeling okay, sweetie?_" she asks him, placing her hand on his shoulder. Takeshi stares blankly at me.

"She asked if you're feeling okay. Unless you want her to go into full neurotic, over-protective mother mode, just smile and nod." I advise. Takeshi makes eye contact with Mum and nods, smiling.

"I'm fine, thank you." he says. I translate for Mum. She smiles back at him. She rubs his back gently for a moment before moving on. She clasps her hands together.

"Who wants falafels?" she asks. This time, Dad translates, because I honestly have no idea how to say 'falafels' in Japanese. Apparently, though, it's 'faraferu'. When everyone says they want falafels, Mum strides out of the room.

Mum returns moments later with a tray piled high with falafels. She places the tray on the table and gestures for everyone to help themselves. We do, with manners completely disregarded. We grab falafels and shovel them into our mouths. Megumi breaks off small pieces and puts them into Emmie's mouth. I probably eat more than anyone else. Xander smiles almost as happily as he does when he's with Hanako.

"_Have we got everyone who's coming to the resort here?_" Mum asks. I shake my head.

"_Xander's friend Chiasa is coming, too._" I say, feeling proud of the fact that I said Chiasa and not Hanako. Dad clicks his fingers.

"_It's her birthday on the 21st, isn't it?_" Dad asks. I nod.

"_Can we get her a Bulbasaur cake?_" Xander asks. Dad smiles and nods.

"_We can try._" he says. It suddenly dawns on me that I haven't spoken to Ezra since I got home. I glance around the room and see him sitting alone in the corner, breaking a falafel into little pieces and arranging it nicely on his plate, before slowly eating each morsel separately. I walk over and sit down beside him.

"_You okay?_" I ask him. He nods. "_Still have a headache?_" He shakes his head.

"_I never had one in the first place. I just wanted to be able to see Mum as soon as possible._" he admits. I roll my eyes.

"_You're turning into Xander._" I say. Ezra frowns at me.

"_You don't seem like you're happy to see Mum and Emmie. Therefore, you are turning into Jase._" he says condescendingly. I wrinkle my nose in disgust.

"_You must be kidding. You cannot be serious._" Ezra shakes his head.

"_Now you know how stupid you sounded just then._" he says. I sigh and rest my head on his shoulder. He tilts his head to the side so that it is on top of mine.

"_What does this remind you of?_" I ask him.

"_Christmas at Granddad's house in Cluj-Napoca._" he says. I smile at the pleasant memories.

"_The house was always so full. Do you remember how we had to lay out blow-up mattresses on the floor in almost every room?_" Ezra giggles.

"_You always used to get told off for drawing on someone's face while they slept or climbing trees in the garden with your dress on,_" he recalls, "_Yeah, this is kinda like that. Everyone sitting on the floor or standing against the walls and then just us in the corner, ignoring everyone else…_" He trails off and I glance up at him. His eyes are closed and an elated smile lights up his face. I close my eyes and listen to the loud, cheerful chatter filling the room, only broken by the occasional cough from Takeshi.

I've almost fallen when someone pokes my face.

"Your sister bit me, Korin-chan." Takeshi says as I open my eyes. I blink as he holds out his finger.

"This is one of the reasons why I hate babies," I say, rubbing my eyes. "Though I think more damage would have been done if it had been your sister who had bitten me." Takeshi looks over at Megumi and starts laughing.

"It seems our sisters get on well," Takeshi remarks, "What with having similar mental ages and all." I frown slightly. Although I've often heard Takeshi being a jerk in front of people, he's not one to say something rude about someone behind their back. And yet, here he is, saying that his sister has a similar mental age to a one year old. Beside me, Ezra snores and jolts awake. I look at him and start laughing. Takeshi sits down next to me. He leans across me and looks at Ezra with concern.

"How come you weren't at school today, Ezra-san? Are you alright?" His voice is filled with the same worry that laced Ezra's words on the orienteering trip. Ezra nods, a slight blush creeping onto his cheeks.

"I had a slight headache this morning, so I thought it would be best to stay home and get some sleep." he says. I try not to laugh out loud at the blatant lie.

Suddenly, Jase yells something about the 'Emo Corner'. Everyone turns to look at me, Ezra and Takeshi, apart from Satoshi, who gives Jase a disgusted sideways glare, and Emmie, who doesn't understand the situation because she's a year old.

"Is he talking about us?" Takeshi asks, giving Jase the Ultimate Akiyama Death Glare of Doom.

"Y-yeah. Ignore him, Takeshi-san. He's a complete idiot who boosts his own confidence by belittling other people." Ezra says. Takeshi smiles at him.

"You're right, Ezra-san." he says. He sighs. "Y'know, even though it was a horrible experience, I'm kind of glad about the orienteering trip." Ezra stares at him, clearly confused, but I think I might know what he means.

"We got to know each other better. If it wasn't for that, I would still think you were a total stuck up prat and I would probably still hate you." I admit. Takeshi smiles.

"Yeah, that's what I meant," he says. "The four of us- me, you two and Megumi- we make a great team. I have the awesome badass skills, Megumi has the enthusiasm and boosts our morale, Korin-chan, you look after us and give us the confidence to keep going, with your problem-solving skills and resourcefulness, and Ezra-san, you're sensible and keep us all tethered to the ground and stop us from doing anything too stupid."

"Yeah," I say. "It's like we were born to work together."

"Isn't that right, Megumi-chan?" Ezra calls across the room with a smile. Megumi bounces over to us.

"What's that?"

"The four of us are the perfect team."

"Of course we are!" she says with a grin. "Oh my God! We totally need a team name! Like the Avengers, but cooler!" I grin at her.

"Well, duh. Every team does. We need an anthem, too." I say. Takeshi and Ezra share a look and roll their eyes simultaneously.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen

I sit beside Megumi, both of us grinning ear to ear, on the window seat on the back row of the bus. In the distance, I can see pillars of soft white steam rising from large traditional buildings. We glance at each other and squeal excitedly. A few people turn their heads and give us disapproving looks. Xander sticks his head between the seats and grins at us.

"This is so cool, Kor! I can't believe you got Dad to agree to it!" he says. Of course, he's not excited about the hot springs or shops or Yokai hotspots or ancient temples. He's excited about the theme park. The towering rides are the only scars on the landscape. Everything else here is several centuries old, with nothing changed apart from repairs and safety measures. Really, the area is stunning even with the screaming roller coasters. Even Jase has stopped flirting with the local girls to stare out of the window, completely awestruck. The only noises are the low chatter of the locals and the happy gurgles of little Emmie as Mum rocks her gently. I smile. If only life was always as carefree and touristy as this… I rid myself of the thought. It's better to experience a culture by becoming a part of it than by seeing only what the locals present to visitors. Most tourist attractions and 'little slices of Heaven' are just lies and deception dressed up to look nice under the guise of being how the area's culture truly is.

"I asked Mum, actually," I tell Xander, and he nods in understanding. "She spoke to Megumi-chan's parents and got them to help her convince him." Beside me, Megumi smiles kindly at Xander. He beams back at her before turning back to Hanako and leaning against her shoulder. Her head shifts so that it's on top of his.

"They're so cute together!" Megumi coos. "They're going to be friends for the rest of their lives." I smile, even while knowing that Megumi would have a very different view of their friendship if she knew who and what Hanako is. I'm glad of how peaceful everything's been lately, though, because it means that the Akiyamas have let their guards down enough to not realise that one of the people they're travelling with is a Yokai.

The bus stops and Mum stands up. She looks around the bus and makes eye contact with every member of our group. We all get up at pretty much the same time. We all make our way to the front of the bus and clamber off, thanking the driver as we do so.

"_Have we got everyone?_" Mum asks, counting everyone off on her fingers. She nods twice.

"The resort's about five minutes away." Dad says twice, once in Japanese and once in English. Our group begins to walk along in the direction of the plumes of steam.

It actually takes less time to get to the resort than expected, even with Takeshi stopping a couple of times to cough. Once we've checked in, we find our way to the three rooms- each with either two double beds or two sets of bunk beds- and go into one of them to sort out the sleeping arrangements.

"I would say boys together and girls together, but we don't have an equal number. We'd need to put a boy in with the girls." Dad says.

"How about me, Takeshi, Korin-chan and Ezra-kun go together, and Xander-kun, Chiasa-chan, Jase-san and Satoshi go together?" Megumi suggests.

"I want to go with Korin-nee-chan." Hanako says, latching herself onto my arm.

"I honestly don't care who I'm with, just as long as I'm not with Jase." I say. Ezra giggles.

"I think that's what everyone's thinking, Kor." he murmurs. There's another arrangement on my mind. I agree with the one Megumi suggested. I don't want Hanako to be with any of the Akiyamas, if possible, but, if she does have to be with one of them, I want it to be Satoshi. He's less likely to kill her on the spot than Takeshi or Megumi are.

"I agree with Megumi," Takeshi whispers, his voice slightly hoarse. "If we end up with a repeat of what happened on the orienteering trip, I want Megumi, Korin-chan and Ezra-kun to be there." I have to strain to hold in a sigh of relief. Now that Takeshi's used his injury as a reason for the arrangement he wants, we'll probably go with that arrangement. Dad shares a look with Mr and Mrs Akiyama. Mum frowns in confusion and, probably, frustration at not knowing what's going on.

"Yes, I think that's a good idea. We'll have the arrangement Megumi and Takeshi suggested." Mr Akiyama says, nodding.

"If we go to our rooms and sort out our stuff now, will we be able to use the baths before dinner?" Megumi asks excitedly. Mrs Akiyama nods, smiling.

"Of course. Just make sure that no one stays in for too long. No more than an hour, and make sure you have at least an hour's break before getting back in." she says.

Ezra, Takeshi, Megumi and I walk down towards the baths, all in our bathing suits.

"Which one shall we go in first?" I ask. "They have water slides here. Can we go on them?" Takeshi slaps his hand over my mouth.

"Shut up, Korin-chan. You're giving me a headache." he says. I open my mouth slightly and stick out my tongue. Takeshi withdraws his hand in disgust. "She just licked me!" I grin.

Ezra shakes his head, "Weirdo." he mutters exasperatedly.

"I'm sorry, Takeshi-kun. I've never been in a hot spring before, and I'm really excited. I'll try to be a bit quieter." I say sheepishly. Megumi stares at me, stunned.

"You've _never_ been in a hot spring before? What have you been doing with your life?"

"We don't have them in England… Or in any of the other countries I've been to…" Megumi gasps.

"You haven't lived until you've been in a hot spring! You'll love it, trust me." she says. I nod with a smile.

"S-so which one should we go in? There are loads of different types." Ezra says.

"How about not the one containing coffee or the one containing wine?" Takeshi says, staring pointedly at me.

"To be honest Korin would probably try to drink out of the coffee one." Ezra remarks. I poke my tongue out at the boys.

"Jerks." I say, and Megumi giggles.

"You know we all love you really, Korin-chan." she says, draping her arm over my shoulder. I smile cheerfully at her.

"So shall we just go in the normal one?" I ask, "The others are all drinks." Takeshi nods.

"Yeah, I think it's probably a good idea to keep Megumi away from the sake pool." he says with a teasing smile. Megumi shoves him gently. The four of us start laughing. We reach the normal water pool and open the door. We walk through and see that there is only one other person in there.

"Wow, it's a lot emptier than I was expecting." Ezra says as the four of us step into the water. We wade over to the other side and sit on the ledge. Takeshi coughs hard into his hands for a few seconds. I place my hand on his shoulder.

"You okay?" I ask softly. He nods and gives me a weak smile. It worries me, though, that, while he doesn't seem to have had any proper coughing fits since the orienteering trip, his coughing is becoming much more frequent. It used to be just the occasional large fit, but now, it's a small fit for thirty seconds every ten or so minutes. Megumi wraps her arms around him and kisses his cheek. She looks as though she's about to cry, just as she always does when Takeshi coughs. He gives her a reassuring smile.

"What's the betting that Satoshi, Jase-san, Xander-kun and Chiasa-chan have gone to the arcade?" Takeshi asks.

"Of course they have. Xander and Chiasa-chan will be playing the dance games and Jase and Satoshi-kun will be flirting." Ezra says. The four of us laugh at how predictable they are.

"Hey, Ez, do you remember how when we first came in August, Dad plotted to have Jase share a room with Xander so that Jase wouldn't be able to bring girls home?" I ask. He nods, grinning.

Takeshi laughs, "I share a room with Satoshi for exactly that reason." he says.

The four of us chat and laugh, sharing anecdotes and generally just being the idiots that we are, for about half an hour, when Takeshi starts coughing. I look over at him and realise that his cheeks are flushed crimson.

"Do you need to get out, Takeshi-kun?" I ask, taking hold of his free hand. When he stops coughing, he nods slightly. We stand and Megumi and I both help to support him. We wade across to the steps that lead out of the pool. Ezra grabs all of our towels from the rack and the four of us make our way through the resort back to our room. Ezra swipes the door card and we enter. We sit Takeshi down on my bed, because it's nearest to the door.

"The ice dispenser is about thirty seconds away. Should I go and get some ice?" I ask, recalling seeing the ice dispenser on the way back to the room. Megumi nods. I grab our jug off of the counter and sprint down the corridor. I place the jug under the opening and press the button. I wait as the ice falls into the jug. The moment the jug is full, I sprint back to the room as quickly as I can. I open the door and enter. I hold the jug of ice out and Takeshi sticks a shaking hand into it, taking out a chunk of ice and placing it in his mouth. Megumi sits beside him, rubbing little circles on his back.

"Anyone gets dizzy if they stay in for too long, which is why my mum told us to limit ourselves to one hour out of two," Megumi explains, "Takeshi's condition probably made him more sensitive to the heat, and it acted as a trigger, I guess." Takeshi nods. His eyes are slightly glazed and don't seem to be focussed properly.

There is a soft knock on the door. Ezra walks across the room and opens it. Satoshi stands in the doorway, looking worried.

"I went to find you guys because I won something on a game that I thought Korin-chan might like," he says. "The girl in the pool said that you'd left because one of you had a coughing fit. Are you okay, Takeshi?" He walks across the room to us. I stand up to let him sit beside Takeshi. He smiles gratefully and sits down.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine," Takeshi says weakly, "I stayed in the water for too long is all." He leans his head against Satoshi's chest. Satoshi rubs small circles on his brother's back. He sticks his other hand into his pocket and takes something out.

"I won this in the arcade, Korin-chan," he says, holding the object out to me. "I thought you might like it." I take it from him and look closely at it. When I realise what it is, I begin bouncing up and down with excitement and it takes every ounce of effort in my body not to squeal. It's a keyring with a plastic figurine of Mako from Girls Und Panzer!

"Thank you so much, Satoshi-kun!" I say. He smiles at me.

"I'm glad you like it. I was trying to get a Pikachu one for Chiasa, but I ended up with that one instead." he says. I grin. "See, I even knew what it was. I guess we're all a little bit nerdy."

Takeshi whispers something that I can't quite make out, but it sounds something like, "I'll take an ice chip, and eat it." I smile at him and giggle. Megumi pouts.

"Am I the only one here who doesn't like anime?" she asks. Takeshi, Satoshi, Ezra and I share a look. We all nod.

"Even Ezra likes Pokémon." I say. Megumi rolls her eyes.

"I'm surrounded by weirdos!" she exclaims, and the rest of us laugh at her.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen

Satoshi runs across the arcade, laughing maniacally.

"Hey, Korin-chan, I just found the dumbest game ever. Do you want to come and play it with me?" he asks.

"Yeah, sure. In a minute." I say, only half listening to what he said, as I continue to shoot the computer generated enemies.

The game ends and Satoshi drags me away before I have a chance to put in more money and start a new game.

"You are now going to play the dumb game which has shit representations of both Yokai and onmyoji." Satoshi orders as he drags me across to the game, which Hanako seems to have beaten us to. Xander stands beside her as she all but screams at the console. Satoshi and I stand beside Xander, laughing at how Hanako is getting into the game so much.

When Hanako finishes the game, she puts in some more money and goes to start a new game, but Satoshi puts in some money, too.

"I'm playing with you." he says. Hanako rolls her eyes.

"That's fine, as long as you don't run crying to your mummy when you lose." she says. Satoshi raises his eyebrows.

"You think I would do that?"

"Just shut up and play."

Xander and I watch the two play together, with Hanako taking the lead and yelling orders at Satoshi. I share a few looks with Xander, like _It's cool that an onmyoji and a Yokai are working together so well_. I smile. Someone grabs my shoulder and I turn to see Megumi.

"Do you know where the toilets are, Korin-chan?" she asks. I nod. "Can you show me?"

"Yeah, sure." Megumi beams at me. The two of us walk to the girls' toilets.

When we get there, Megumi locks herself in a cubicle. After about thirty seconds,  
>I start to get a bit bored and I decide to have a laugh. I stand in front of Megumi's cubicle.<p>

"Red paper or blue paper?" I ask, trying to keep the laughter out of my voice. Something flies over the top of the door, and for a moment I worry that Megumi sent out a Shikigami. But, when it lands on the floor by my feet, I stare, shocked, at it.

"How's that for red paper, bitch?" Megumi asks, and I burst out laughing. She just threw a used tampon at me. The cubicle door opens and Megumi steps out, smiling slightly and shaking her head.

"I hope you're going to put that in the bin," I say, pointing at the tampon. "I wouldn't want to be the cleaner that finds that." Megumi nods with a laugh.

"Of course I am." she says as she bends over and picks up the tampon, stepping back into the cubicle and putting it in the sanitary bin.

Megumi and I are still giggling when we get back to the others.

"What's so funny?" Satoshi asks us. We share a look and immediately burst out laughing.

"It doesn't matter…" I manage to say between fits of laughter.

"Y-you had to be there…" Megumi squeaks out.

Satoshi regards us with what appears to be mild concern for our sanity, "Right… Okay… I'm not going to ask anything else…" he says slowly.

"I wanna know!" Xander says. I shake my head.

"It's girl stuff. You wouldn't understand it." I say, waving my hand dismissively. Satoshi wrinkles his nose in disgust.

"Well, this is a great conversation to be having." he says. Xander and Hanako both look incredibly confused.

Eight hours later, I'm lying on my bunk with Ezra snoring above me. Takeshi is sitting by the window, staring out at the moon, and Megumi is playing on her phone. Every thirty seconds or so, Megumi's phone beeps and she giggles. I am honestly considering throwing something at her, because I want to sleep but the light from her screen as well as the annoying beeping is keeping me awake. How Ezra is managing to sleep through it, I will never know.

Eventually, I give up on sleep with a small sigh. I take out my phone and open Crunchyroll. I plug in my headphones and put them on, before flicking through and finding the first anime I ever watched, the one that first sparked my interest in Yokai, Nurarihyon no Mago.

I rewatch from the first episode, and I reach episode 22 before Ezra hangs his head over the side of the bed and tells me that it's time to get up.

"Good morning!" he says cheerfully, sliding out of bed and going to the window to open the curtains. Early morning sunlight streams in through the window and I groan. Ezra receives three dark glares. He smiles sheepishly. "S-sorry, guys… Did I wake you up?"

"Yes, you did." Megumi snaps.

"You would have woken up on your own by now if you hadn't been up until three playing on your phone." I point out to her.

"And you know what time I went to sleep how, exactly?"

"I was watching anime because I couldn't sleep because your phone kept beeping," I state. "It was almost as loud and obnoxious as its owner." Takeshi gets up and stands between our beds.

"Guys, shut up. You're both in foul moods because you're sleep deprived. That is your own fault, no one else's. Don't take it out on each other." he says calmly, though he's smiling in a way that makes me think that he might have found our almost-argument amusing.

I get out of bed and throw on the same clothes I wore yesterday.

"Are you kidding? You're wearing the same clothes twice in a row?" Megumi asks. I nod.

"You should know by now that Korin-chan does that sort of thing," Takeshi says, shaking his head. "And that she doesn't care if people think she's weird because of it."

"You know me too well, Takeshi-kun." I say. He sighs and takes out some clean clothes.

"I'm going to get dressed now." he says, and walks into the ensuite bathroom, locking the door behind him.

Ten minutes later, we are all dressed. We walk across the hall to the parents' room, where Satoshi, Jase, Xander and Hanako are already waiting.

"We're just waiting for the mothers to finish doing their make-up." Satoshi says.

"I wonder if they're having fun with Emmie in there with them…" I say. Ezra, Jase and Xander laugh. As if to back up my point, the shriek of an angry baby comes from inside the room. Inside, I can hear Mum scolding Emmie to the point of using her full name.

The door opens and Mum, Dad and Mr and Mrs Akiyama come out.

"Good morning! Is everyone ready for breakfast?" Mrs Akiyama says cheerfully. We all nod. "How late did everyone stay up last night?"

"Half past eleven." I say, and Ezra, Takeshi and Megumi all nod in agreement. Our group walks down to the food court and find the restaurant we went to yesterday, which serves a buffet breakfast and is willing to heat bottles of milk for babies.

We enter the restaurant and find a table. We get the all-you-can-eat buffet breakfast for everyone, because it's easier than having some people getting too much and others not getting enough, and everyone can have what they want. Mum sticks a warm bottle of milk in Emmie's mouth and hums to herself. I pile my plate high with bacon, bacon, bacon and bacon. I eat at least twice as much as anyone else. Megumi eats one slice of toast and stares at me enviously.

"How are you so skinny even though you eat so much?" she asks. I shrug.

"I have a fast metabolism, and I generally eat lots of healthy stuff, rather than junk food and processed stuff." I say.

"You're so lucky. I wish I was as skinny as you." she says. I hold my arm alongside hers. There's barely any difference in size. Her's is marginally bigger, but I know that that's only because she's more muscular than I am.

"You're about the same size as me," I say, "The only reason you're bigger is that you have muscles and I don't." Megumi quickly withdraws her arm. Mr Akiyama makes eye contact with me and smiles gratefully.

"I don't have muscles. Takeshi's much stronger than me." Megumi says.

"That's because he eats enough to be able to train more and is therefore stronger." I counter. Takeshi nods, half a slice of bacon hanging out of the corner of his mouth as he attempts to shovel in as much as possible. He puts his hand over his mouth and swallows hard twice.

"You're not fat, Megumi. I'm fatter than you." he says, and it's not just to make Megumi stop complaining about her weight. He is actually about twice her size, but he's by no means fat.

Megumi scoffs, "No, you're not. You just have chubby cheeks." Takeshi squeezes his cheeks between his fingers.

"That is true. All of my extra weight is on my face. It's a wonder I can hold it up!" he says, and I burst out laughing. Everyone else stares blankly at him. "At least Korin-chan thinks I'm funny." He pouts as he speaks. Ezra giggles.

"You are funny sometimes, Takeshi-san." he says quietly.

"Funnier than Satoshi?" Takeshi asks. I shake my head.

"Sorry, but no. After yesterday, I've started thinking that Megumi-chan might just be the funniest." I say. Megumi looks at me and I know that we're thinking about the same thing. We both burst out laughing.

"Is that because of the 'girl thing' that you wouldn't tell us about?" Satoshi asks. I nod. He rolls his eyes at us. "If you don't want to tell us what happened, stop talking about it when we're around." Mr Akiyama raises his eyebrows at us.

"Is this something appropriate?" he asks.

"It was, but Megumi-chan ma-" I'm cut off by Megumi clamping her hand over my mouth.

"Shut up, Korin-chan!" she says. Hanako gets up and comes round the table to stand next to me.

"Can you tell me, Korin-nee-chan? You don't have to tell anyone else." she asks. I shake my head. She pouts.

"Sit down, Chiasa-chan." I say, pulling Megumi's hand away from my mouth. Hanako pokes her tongue out at me before going and sitting back down beside Xander.

"You're a poo, Korin-nee-chan." Hanako says, and I laugh out loud at the poor attempt at an insult.

"Chiasa-chan's right! I wanna know what happened!" Xander whines petulantly. I roll my eyes. Dad places his hand on Xander's shoulder.

"If they don't want to tell you, don't pressure them." he says softly. I smile at him as I stand up with my plate to go and get more food. Takeshi does the same.

"Want to see who can eat the most without puking?" he asks me with a cheerful, carefree smile.

"Are you sure you should-"

"I'm dying anyway, making myself sick from eating too much bacon isn't really going to make much of a difference." he says, shrugging. My muscles go rigid and I feel tears forming in my eyes. Hearing him say it out loud, so casually, as though he's accepted his fate and stopped caring, makes me want to hug him and never let go.

"Yeah, sound like fun." I say, trying to smile. My voice trembles slightly. Takeshi smiles softly at me, as though he can tell what's going through my head.

We pile our plates with matching mountains of bacon and sit down. We begin to scarf it down, shovelling the sweet savoury goodness down our throats and grinning every time we make eye contact.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen

I am awoken early by what feels like an extremely heavy sack of potatoes being dumped on my chest. I groan and open my eyes. Hanako in kneeling on me, grinning broadly.

"Guess what today is, Korin-nee-chan." she says, her brown eyes alight with excitement. I shove her off of me as I try to think what it could be that has made her so excited. It suddenly dawns on me, and I click my fingers.

"It's your birthday." I say. She nods, grinning broadly from ear to ear. "Happy birthday." I sit up slowly. Hanako runs across the room and playfully pokes Takeshi's cheek. He groans loudly and rolls over.

"Leave me alone…" he moans, fumbling with his duvet and pulling it up over his head. I stand up and tiredly make my way over to Takeshi's bed.

"It's the morning, idiot. Do you know what people do in the morning? They get their fat, lazy arses out of bed." I say, pulling his pillow out from underneath his head.

"Let me sleep…" he protests in a petulant whine.

"Not happening." I say, digging my hands under his mattress. I give Hanako a mischievous smile and she mimics my action.

"You're a horrible person, Korin." Ezra says softly, and I turn my head and grin at him. Megumi sticks her head down over the side of the bed.

"You know he'll beat you up if you do that, right?" she asks warningly. I shrug nonchalantly and lift Takeshi's mattress. Hanako and I raise our arms at the same time and successfully tip Takeshi out of his bed and onto the floor.

"I hope you understand that I really despise you right now, Korin-chan." Takeshi says, glaring darkly at me as he pushes himself upright and stands.

"I think you've forgotten what today is." I say to him. He frowns slightly, clearly having no idea what I'm talking about.

"Chiasa-chan's birthday." Megumi reminds him exasperatedly. He gasps, nodding. He walks around the end of the bed and scoops Hanako up in his arms.

"Happy birthday, Chiasa-chan." he says with a kind smile.

"You're really weird, Takeshi-kun. I'm ten, not two" Hanako says, looking slightly creeped lets go of her and she falls to the floor with a soft thud. Takeshi frowns at her.

"That's a really nice thing to say about someone." he says, his voice dripping with enough sarcasm to fill a hot spring. His voice is a lot more lively than I would have expected, considering how exhausted he looks. He has dark circles under his eyes and his hair is all over the place. He grimaces slightly and pokes his tongue out, staring down and trying to see the end of it.

"You're bleeding." I point out, seeing the blood that's pooling on his tongue. He nods.

"I know. I can feel it. I think I've broken my braces, because I just caught my tongue on them." he says. I raise my eyebrows with a slight smile.

"Idiot."

"Go eat a burger." he retorts, shaking his head exasperatedly. I grin at him. Megumi squeals as she slides down the ladder from the top bunk to the floor.

"I will go down with this ship!" she bubbles enthusiastically, clasping her hands together cheerfully. She begins giggling madly and Takeshi and I both turn and glare darkly at her.

"Who's the seme and who's the uke?" Hanako asks with a teasing smile. I give her a _What the heck are you saying?_ look and she smiles cheerfully at me in response.

"The fact that a ten year old knows the meanings of those words worries me slightly." Ezra says quietly. Takeshi nods slowly.

"Do you have older siblings, Chiasa-chan?" he asks. Chiasa shakes her head.

"Nope! I'm an only child." she says cheerfully. Takeshi regards her with slight concern.

"There is no reason for a ten year old with no siblings to know what those mean…" he says, slowly stepping away from Hanako.

The door opens and Satoshi and Xander come in.

"We're all heading down to get breakfast," Satoshi says. "So you lot had better hurry up if you want to eat this morning." I pick up the first t-shirt and pair of jeans I see and step into the bathroom to change. When I come out, Takeshi raises his eyebrows.

"Have you seen what you're wearing?" he asks. I look down. "That's the t-shirt I wore yesterday." Everyone starts laughing. I shrug.

"It's really baggy, so I'm fine with it. It's comfy, and that's all I really care about." I say.

"It's baggy?" Satoshi asks incredulously. "You need to lose a couple of pounds, Takeshi!" He slaps Takeshi's stomach gently. Takeshi holds his middle finger up in Satoshi's face.

"Shut up, or I'll tell Dad about the mysterious sock and belt that were on your bed the other week." he says. Satoshi instantly pales. Ezra smirks slightly.

"The other week?" he asks mischievously, "Like, when we got back from orienteering?" Takeshi nods, grinning.

"Did you see something? I'm trying to build a collection of stuff I can use to blackmail him." Ezra opens his mouth, probably to tell him about the mysterious boy.

"Guys, shut up. Leave Satoshi-kun alone. What he does in his own time is none of your business." I reprimand. Satoshi gives me a grateful smile.

"Yeah! Shut up! No one cares about belts and socks!" Hanako says, and I grin at her.

"Ready to go and get breakfast, midget?" I ask her. She beams at me.

"Of course! When am I not ready to have breakfast? Breakfast is breakfast! Everyone loves breakfast!" she bubbles in a Megumi-like tone. Megumi's face contorts into an expression of uncomfortable disgust. I laugh out loud at the irony of it, though I'm truly worried for Megumi.

"Let's go!" Satoshi says, and the seven of us leave the bedroom.

After breakfast, Hanako decides that she wants to go into one of the hot springs.

"Which one's the best, Korin-nee-chan?" she asks me. "Can you drink the green tea one?"

I shake my head in both disgust and exasperation, "Would you really want to drink something that people have been bathing in?" I ask her. She wrinkles her nose and pokes her tongue out in disgust. "I've only been in the normal one and the sake one."

"Can we go in the sake one?" she asks. Satoshi stares at her, apparently slightly creeped out by the idea.

"Why would a ten year old want to bathe in alcohol?" he asks with mild concern. Takeshi laughs and messes up Hanako's hair playfully.

"She's Korin-chan's Mini Me, that's why." he says, and Hanako frowns.

"Korin-nee-chan's _my_ Mini Me, actually." she corrects stroppily.

"Yeah, you keep telling yourself that, Chiasa-chan." Satoshi says, smiling at her. Takeshi starts comparing my height to Hanako's with his hands.

"I can use Chiasa-chan's head as an armrest. Korin-chan can use my head as an armrest. Nope, Chiasa-chan is definitely Korin-chan's Mini Me." he says. Hanako pokes her tongue out at him. He smiles at her.

"I don't like you anymore." Hanako says. Takeshi pouts.

"I guess I'll just go and cry myself to sleep now, then." he says, pretending to wipe tears out of his eyes. He yawns. "I think I will actually go back to bed. I'm so-o-o tired, and it's all Korin-chan's fault."

"D'you need someone to come with you?" Satoshi asks gently. Takeshi shakes his head.

"Nah, I'm fine." He begins to walk off, but turns back to me, "Don't hurt the shirt." he says. I smirk at him.

"Wouldn't dream of it." I say.

"Everyone's abandoning me." Satoshi says. I look questioningly at him, and he elaborates. "Jase-kun met this cute Norwegian tourist girl and they're hanging out together." I shake my head with a light laugh.

"Typical Jase." I say. Xander, who has been worryingly quiet throughout the conversation, giggles.

"Yeah. Can we go in the hot spring now?" he asks excitedly. "I haven't been in one yet."

"We've been here since Saturday, and you still haven't been in any of the baths? You've seriously spent four days in the arcade?" Satoshi asks incredulously. Xander nods with a childish grin.

The four of us sit in the sake pool, chatting and laughing. Satoshi and I are both keeping a close eye on Hanako, because she keeps trying to drink the sake.

"Chiasa-chan, you're going to make yourself ill if you keep doing that." Satoshi gently reprimands for at least the seventh time since we got in here less than twenty minutes ago. "We'll have to get out if you keep doing that." Hanako pouts.

"Seriously, stop it, Hanako-chan." Hanako's eyes widen and I realise my mistake. I clamp my hands over my mouth and shake my head furiously, teardrops beginning to form in my eyes and threatening to find their way down my cheeks. Xander bites his lip so hard that blood begins to roll off of it. Satoshi raises his eyebrows.

"Hanako-chan? Is there something you three want to tell me?" he asks softly, his voice laced with morbid curiosity. The three of us shake our heads in unison. "Then I guess I'll just have to pull out my Shikigami on all of you…" He trails off with a soft sigh as Hanako lets her head hang. Xander whimpers, clutching Hanako's hand, clearly terrified.

"I-I should have known it was too good to last…" she whispers. "I don't want you to hurt Xander-kun or Korin-nee-chan, so I'm just going to tell you now. I'm not really a human. I'm a-"

"A Toilet Hanako," Satoshi cuts her off, his eyes and voice alight with excitement. "The same one that Megumi failed to exorcise a few weeks back, by any chance?" Hanako nods.

"Y-you can k-kill m-me, I d-don't m-mind," Hanako says sadly, her voice cracking on every word and tears rolling off of her cheeks and into the pool. "Just as long as you don't hurt Korin-nee-chan or Xander-kun." Satoshi's dark brown eyes are an eerie coal black in the low light of the pool. They seem to glisten murderously as he regards the three of us. I protectively wrap my arms around Hanako and Xander and turn my back on Satoshi and sob into their hair.

"K-Korin-nee-chan… Th-thank you… For- for everything…" Hanako whispers hoarsely.

"I l-love you, Chiasa-chan." Xander sobs, nuzzling his face into Hanako's chest. I take a deep breath and accept that Hanako's impending death is my fault.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen

Satoshi bursts out laughing. Hanako looks up at him, clearly as confused as I am.

"You really think I'd exorcise you?" Satoshi asks her. "You're obviously harmless, so there's really no point. You're not hurting anyone and you're not scaring anyone, so there's honestly no reason for me to hurt you." I let out a sigh of relief. Hanako frowns and smiles simultaneously.

"I'm not harmless. I'm a fearsome Pokémon Master." she corrects, though her voice is still trembling.

"On the subject of Pokémon Masters…" Satoshi says. "I still have your 3DS. I'll give it back to you when we get home." Hanako smiles at him, wiping tears out of her eyes.

"Th-thank you, Satoshi-kun." she says in a whisper. Xander is still trembling in my arms. He constantly chokes out painful, terrified sobs. I make eye contact with Satoshi and he tries to look away, but his eyes keep wandering back to me. He obviously feels guilty for scaring us so much.

"_K-Korin…_" Xander croaks out, his voice high, tight and strained. "_I-I think I'm gonna…_" He trails off. I nod and stand up, helping him up and beginning to wade alongside him to the exit. I made eye contact with Hanako. She's staring at Xander, her eyes filled with worry and fear and so much more.

"Korin-chan, is Xander-kun okay?" Satoshi asks, chewing his lip. He avoids making eye contact and removes his glasses, dipping them into the pool. He swears when he remembers that it's sake and not water. He begins rubbing the lenses furiously.

"Yeah. He just has a weak stomach, and sometimes pukes when he gets really stressed." I explain. I think I see a tear fall from Satoshi's cheek. Xander's hand has moved from his side to his mouth in the time that it's taken to get out of the pool. Hanako swims over and gets out, grabbing hold of Xander's shoulder and wrapping her arms around him. The three of us leave and rapidly make our way to the boys' toilets.

We round the final corner and are just outside the toilets when someone grabs my shoulder. I turn and see Satoshi staring straight at me. It's obvious from his flushed cheeks, ragged breathing and puffy eyes that he ran to catch up, and was crying as he did so.

"Do you want me to go in with him and make sure he's okay?" he asks, gesturing to Xander. I nod, smiling gratefully at him, though inside I still hate him for the way he scared us. Satoshi places a gentle hand on Xander's shoulder and maneuvers him into the toilets. Hanako and I stand outside in stunned silence. Hanako stares at the ground, trembling, but purposefully distancing herself from me. She's angry, and doesn't care if I know. I feel a tear roll down my cheek and I wipe it away. Hanako looks up at me curiously, like, _I didn't know you cried_. I squeeze my eyes shut for a few seconds as I try to swallow the lump of tears forming in my throat. The moment I open my eyes, Hanako looks away again.

The door opens and Satoshi comes out, Xander draped over his shoulder. He rubs circles on Xander's back as the smaller boy shudders in his arms. Satoshi has tears rolling down his cheeks and his glasses. He gently places Xander down on the floor. Xander turns and falls into Hanako's arms.

"I'm really sorry your birthday ended up being like this, Chiasa-chan." I say. Satoshi nods.

"Yeah. I shouldn't have scared you so much. I'm sorry." he says, his voice cracking slightly.

"No, Satoshi-kun. It's my fault." I say. Satoshi nods.

"Yeah, you're right. If you hadn't messed up with Chiasa-chan's name, none of this would have happened. You need to be more careful. The rest of my family won't be so forgiving. Especially my sister. Chiasa-chan got away from her once before. If Megumi finds out who she is, it won't happen again." he warns. Hanako gives me a reassuring smile as I fail to hold back a choked sob and reaches her hand out to me around Xander. I take it and give it a gentle squeeze. Xander unlatches himself from Hanako and the four of us begin to walk, though I'm not sure any of us know where we're going.

"We should probably go and get our clothes." Satoshi says, looking up and down my body. I nod, realising for the first time that we're all still in swimwear. Hanako giggles quietly, and Xander gives a small smile.

"Would you two mind getting them?" I ask them. They stare at me, clearly confused. "I need to speak to Satoshi-kun in private." They both smirk deviously and run off in the direction of the pool.

Once they're out of sight, Satoshi raises his eyebrows at me.

"What do you need to talk about, Korin-chan?" he asks.

"I owe you big time, Satoshi-kun. For not killing Han- Chiasa-chan. Thank you." I say. Satoshi shrugs and shakes his head.

"You definitely do not owe me anything, Korin-chan. I still owe you for not telling anyone about…" he trails of awkwardly. "You know…"

"The mysterious boy who Xander, Ezra and I saw leaving your house when you'd been home alone?" I say with a teasing laugh. "You don't owe me for that." Satoshi smiles at me.

"Yeah. You're a good friend now that I've got past the whole 'insane otaku who likes yaoi way too much' thing." he says, a small blush creeping onto his cheeks. "I really appreciate that you're not judging me for it."

"You said yourself that I love yaoi." I point out. Satoshi wrinkles his nose.

"Not a chance. Sorry. Not happening." he says.

I smirk, "I never suggested anything. I only like boys if they're animated, anyway."

"Disgusting girl. Let's see if we can catch up with the kids, just to make sure they get the right clothes." he says, shaking his head with a sigh. I grin at him and we make our way towards the sake pool.

By the time the sun has gone down and the day is nearing its end, Hanako, Xander and I have all recovered from our earlier terror. The three of us, alongside Satoshi, Takeshi, Megumi and Ezra (Jase is hanging out in one of the springs with his new girlfriend), sit in one of the bedrooms. A playlist of Simple Plan, The Click Five and The Ready Set blasts through the speakers of Satoshi's MP3 amplifier. The seven of us chat and laugh, getting up to dance whenever a really good song comes on.

"Can we choreograph a routine?" Hanako asks, and I nod, grinning at her.

"Count me in!" I yell, punching the air. I leap to my feet and begin to flick through the songs on Satoshi's iPod. "Which one shall we do?" Everyone starts shouting the names of their favourites, and I eventually give up on trying to pick one out of them and settle for Higher by The Ready Set.

Within minutes, there are arms and legs flying and colliding everywhere as we all just mess about more than actually trying to do anything properly. Ezra sits on the edge of one of the beds, facepalming every time someone complains that they've been trodden on or kicked or some other such nonsense. Takeshi seems to be intentionally crashing into Satoshi and Megumi, just to annoy them. Hanako and Xander hold hands as they try to do various made up dance steps in time with each other. I smile and laugh as I twirl around, my long plait flying out behind me and hitting multiple people in the face. When I stop spinning, there are three slightly irked and extremely strong onmyoji glaring at me.

"That thing on the back of your head is a dangerous weapon. Keep it under control." Takeshi says, holding his hand to his cheek, slightly reddened by the thick whip I call hair.

"Sorry. It has a mind of its own." I giggle. Ezra gives a strange smile.

"Like a Kejoro." he says, and I raise my eyebrows at him. Satoshi turns to him, waggling his index finger slightly.

"Not strictly true, Ezra-kun. Yes, a Kejoro will use their hair as a weapon which can be used to strangle or whip a victim, but they have complete control over its movement, almost as though it contained muscles which could be controlled as easily as any other." he corrects.

Takeshi continues for him, "This means that if you can stay on your feet long enough while fighting a Kejoro, you can pick up on their fighting style and work out what they're going to do next with their hair as well as their hands and feet. If you can't read their movements or they're highly trained or completely untrained, you're as good as dead. With enough practice, a Kejoro will become so strong that they need only tense a muscle fractionally to place an attack, with such precision and so little movement that it's not visible. On the other hand, an untrained Kejoro will use muscles that they don't need to use, which can trick or confuse their potential victim."

"Wow, Takeshi-kun. You really know how to ruin the mood." I comment. Takeshi blushes and pokes his tongue out at me. "You're teaching us how to fight Yokai at at ten year old's birthday party. What do you expect me to say?"

"I don't know… Maybe something along the lines of 'Wow, Takeshi-senpai! You're so cool and knowledgeable!'" he says with a shrug and a teasing smile.

"Can we please have less Yokai talk and more dancing?" Hanako asks impatiently, her hands on her hips and her left foot tapping rhythmically on the floor, and I grin at her.

"Yeah. Let's get to it, guys! Ezra, be our choreographer!" I say, and Ezra shakes his head.

"I can't dance." he states, and I snort as Xander rolls his eyes. The two of us share a look before turning back to Ezra.

"Vienna." we say at exactly the same time. I small smile tugs at the corners of his lips as he most likely recalls the school dance we attended when we were twelve.

"Okay, fine. I might be able to dance a little." He uses his fingers to show just how tiny the amount of dancing he can do is. I shake my head with a laugh.

"You're a good dancer, Ez." Xander says reassuringly. Hanako grins at Ezra.

"Show us your coolest moves." she orders. Ezra flushes crimson from his Adam's Apple to the tips of his ears. Satoshi gives him a small smile with partially closed eyes that would be enough to melt the hearts of the majority of the girls at school. As it is, my heart melts not because of the look on Satoshi's face, but because it's directed at Ezra. It takes all of my self control not to squeal loudly at how cute it is, but I manage. Sort of. Instead of letting out a full-blown fujoshi shriek, however, I make a noise that is somewhat reminiscent of a constipated alpaca. Six pairs of eyes land on me, the majority of which look mildly concerned.

"You okay, Kor?" Ezra asks, with a giggle. I nod, not trusting myself to speak in case my fangirl side shows itself and I unleash the wild beast of YAOIYAOIYAOI on everyone.

Hanako giggles, "Did you notice what I noticed?" she asks. I nod. She bursts out with maniacal laughter as she stares at Satoshi.

"You children are creepy," Satoshi says, pouting at us. "Why do the creepy ones always pick on me?"

"It's because you're tall and mildly attractive and girls like you," Takeshi says. He makes a strange expression and points at his face. "This is my jealous face." he says teasingly. Xander and Megumi laugh.

"I'm surrounded by freaks." Ezra says mildly. Megumi bounces over and sits beside him.

"I'm not a freak, Ezra-kun. I'm too cute to be a freak, aren't I?" she asks. Ezra nods, giving her a small smile.

"We're all freaks, Megumi-chan. But at the same time, we're all perfect the way we are."

Needless to say, with all of the random outbursts and sudden deep comments that follow, our attempt at turning ourselves into a dance troupe is unsuccessful, much to Hanako's disappointment.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen

I sit in the living room, feeling rather lonely as I'm the only one who isn't talking to someone. Hanako and Xander sit side by side, giggling about who knows what, Jase is having a Skype chat with his new girlfriend, Grethe, and, most surprisingly of all, Ezra is blushing as his whispers down the phone to a girl whose name he refused to tell me, although her contact name in his mobile is just '3'. I sigh and tap my fingers on the floor, waiting for Mum, Dad and Emmie to get home. They've gone out and told us that they expect the four of us to be in the living room when they get back, but gave us no clue as to how long they would be in the town.

I take my phone out of my pocket and flick through my contacts until I get to Mariko. I click on her icon and start a text conversation. I quickly type, in English, a joke poem which lots of people would probably be offended by, but I know Mariko will find hilarious.

I press send and wait impatiently for about ten minutes before I give up and text Yuki.

_I just texted Mariko, she didn't text back?_ I type. The response comes through about a minute later.

_She's having a phone call with a mysterious boy whose name she won't tell us._ Is the reply Yuki gives. I gasp and giggle with realisation. Ezra and Mariko are both talking to an unidentified person of the opposite gender! Could it be that they're talking to each other?

_Ezra won't tell us the name of the girl he's talking to! They might be talking to each other!_ I send and the only response I get from Yuki is a smiley face, the same one she always uses to end a conversation. I sigh and put my phone back in my pocket.

After what seems like an eternity of boredom but is only twenty minutes, the door opens and Dad comes in, Emmie in one arm and at least six shopping bags in the other.

"_Your mother got chatting to Mai, so I decided to leave her there._" he says, and we all laugh apart from Xander. For him, it seems to be too reminiscent of how things were when we lived in London, because he bursts into tears. I slide across the floor towards him and pull him into a hug. I stroke his hair as Jase and Ezra hang up their phones and Dad tries to keep hold of Emmie, who is stretching her arms out towards us and emitting a distressed babble. Hanako gets up and bounces over to Dad, takes Emmie from him and comes back over slowly and carefully. She places Emmie down beside us and starts rubbing Xander's arm gently. Emmie tries to push herself onto her feet and swings out her chubby hand towards Xander. She begins doing her usual thing of hitting harder than she probably realises in what is most likely an attempt at being comforting. Xander lets out a choked sob and pulls away from the hug, wiping his eyes and chewing his lip. I smile softly at him and he manages a small smile back. Dad comes and sits down beside us.

"_You okay, Xand?_" he asks, taking Xander's hand and giving it a small squeeze. Xander nods, although tears are still streaming down his cheeks.

"_P-please don't tell Mummy. I don't her to get worried._" he begs. Dad looks as though he's torn.

"_If she realises you've been crying, just tell her that you got in a massive argument with me._" I say, and he giggles quietly.

"_It would be more believable if you and Jase had had a fight and I got caught in the middle of it,_" he says. "_You're way too protective of me._"

"_But if you say that, Jase will get in trouble, too._" I point out. Dad gives me an approving smile.

"_You've become much more thoughtful and aware of others since we moved here, Korin. I think that Megumi must be a very good influence on you._" he says warmly. I beam. If Dad comments on how something about one of us has improved, he's being completely honest. I know, of course, that it's most likely Yuki, Mariko, Bunko and Satsuki who are a positive influence, rather than Megumi.

"_Thank you!_" I say cheerfully. The door opens again and Mum comes in.

"_Have you lot been to the other nearby villages? Some of the charity shops have some really lovely things. I bought Christmas presents for your cousins, so you don't need to worry about that._" she says, putting down at least twice as many bags as Dad had. Ezra facepalms and Jase cringes at Mum's mistake. She tilts her head to the side. "_What?_"

"_It's not Christmas yet,_" I tell her, "_It's not even November._" She frowns at me.

"_There's nothing else before Christmas, though. Why can't we-_"

"_There is Halloween and Bonfire Night and NaNoWriMo and Remembrance Day and in America there's Thanksgiving. It's not Christmas yet._" I say, my temper rising with every word. People don't seem to understand that you can't start doing Christmas stuff until December, because before then, there are other things happening. People think you're weird if you start getting excited about Halloween in June, and Christmas should be no different. Christmas does not start until December starts. Hanako looks slightly creeped out.

"_All I heard was 'Blah blah blah humbug'._" Mum says with a cheerful smile, which is, of course, one of the things I hate most about her. She knows nothing about any of us and still sees all of us as eight year olds who can't do anything for ourselves and will instantly be happy if we see our mother smile. I frown at her. Dad takes Mum's hand and whispers something to her in Greek. Mum nods. "_Why don't we go out shopping for some girly bonding time, Korin?_" I raise my eyebrows at her. Jase laughs.

"_Shopping? Korin? Somehow, I can't imagine that going well._" he says. Mum looks slightly hurt, like a puppy that's just been kicked.

"_Don't you like shopping, Korin?_" she asks. "_I thought girls your age liked that sort of thing…_"

"_She likes reading, playing video games and looking for Yokai in the forest._" Xander says. "_That's why all of her friends apart from Megumi are boys._"

"_We can shop for books and video games, then._" Mum says.

"_And anime merch?_" I ask. Mum nods.

"_Of course!_" I grin and the two of us make our way to the door.

"_See you guys later._" I say to Hanako and my brothers. Emmie gurgles and flaps a pudgy fist at me.

Two hours later, we're in Tokyo. Mum immediately spots a shop of high-end fashion and tries to drag me into it.

"_Not a chance, Mum. You are not making me wear any of that stuff._" I say. Mum sighs.

"_You need some nice clothes, though, Korin. You can't wear boys' clothes and fandom things all the time._" she says, and instead takes me into a clothes shop which is less feminine but still with 'nice' fashionable clothes. I roll my eyes exasperatedly and hope that she at least lets me buy clothes that I want.

I stand still as Mum pulls various dresses from the shelves and holds them up against me. She throws several into a shopping basket and puts others back. A shop assistant comes over and asks in Japanese if we want help. Mum stares blankly at her.

"I'm sorry," I say to the shop assistant, "My mother doesn't speak Japanese." the shop assistant nods and calls out to one of her colleagues, a girl around my age, with tanned skin and dark blonde hair to her elbows.

"_Do you speak English?_" she asks in a Surrey accent that reminds me of home, "_If not, I'm afraid none of us will be able to help you._"

"_Yes, we speak English, thank you._" Mum says.

"_What can I help you with?_" the shop assistant, whose name tag reads _Jade_, asks.

"_I'm looking for a dress for my daughter,_" Mum says, "_But she's rather difficult to buy clothes for._"

"_Because she's tall and slim, and most clothes are made for people who are either short and slim or tall and round?_" Jade asks. Mum shakes her head.

"_Partly, but also because she's so boyish._" she says. Jade looks me up and down.

"_Have you been measured recently?_" she asks me. I shake my head.

"_I wear mens clothes. They don't need to be fitted._" I say, slightly nervous. I'm a lot more self-conscious about my body than people think, despite the compliments I've had about my figure on cosplay sites and from Satoshi, Megumi and Takeshi while we were at the hot springs resort. Jade gestures for me to go with her somewhere.

"_I can take your now measurements so that we can find something that's right for your body shape._" I nod and we go to the measurement rooms. "_Take off everything apart from your underwear._" she says, and I blush bright red.

"_Do I have to?_" I ask.

"_I can't really measure you if you don't._" she says. I feel the blush spreading further. "_Are you not wearing a bra?_" I hang my head. "_Don't worry, this is a judgement free zone._"

"_You can't really expect me to wear a bra when I've got nothing to put in it._" I say. Jade laughs lightly.

"_You're what, sixteen? I don't have boobs either. Don't worry._" she says, her fingers moving up to her hair and fiddling with an eagle feather that seems to have been attached to it.

"_I'm fifteen._" I say.

"_Same as me,_" she says, picking up a measuring tape. "_Do you have a part time job?_" I shake my head.

"_I live in Narusawa. I spend most of my free time in the forest._" I explain. Jade begins wrapping the measuring tape around my body over the top of my t-shirt.

"_You should get a job here. We'd probably end up commuting together if we got similar shifts. I have to go two and a half hours each way to get here from Fujinomiya. I used to spend loads of time in the forest, but my parents made me get a job so that I could buy my own stuff and stop asking them for money._" she says. I laugh lightly. "_You have really similar measurements to me. I'll show you to the section with the dresses that fit me or are slightly bigger, and we'll pick something that suits you._" I nod and smile.

"_Thanks._" I say. The two of us walk out of the changing room. Mum eagerly smiles at us. Jade takes us to a section filled with both shimmering silk and delicate cotton dresses, all with elaborate patterns. Jade looks at me, and then at one of the dresses, and then back at me. She smiles and takes the dress off of the rack. It's cotton, deep brown and forest green mingled together in small strokes that blend smoothly. It has pale pink silk thread stitched across it, forming the shapes of sakura petals. It looks like photos I've seen of sakura petals that land on the ground when the trees shed them and rain falls, churning earth and grass together. Jade holds the dress up against me.

"_It definitely suits you. The cotton is a similar colour to your eyes, and the pink goes well with your fair skin._" she says. Mum squeals.

"_Go and try it on, Korin! You'll look stunning, I'm sure!_" I give a nervous smile as I take the dress and go to the changing room. I remove my jeans and t-shirt and slip the dress on, zipping it up at the side. I step out of the changing room and Mum and Jade stand smiling at me.

"_I thought _I _looked good in that dress,_" Jade says, "_But it really suits you._"

"_We'll take it!_" Mum says, reaching out and beginning to unplait my hair. She pulls a folding hair brush out of her pocket (who the hell carries those things around?) and runs it through my hair a couple of times.

"_If you remove the tag, you can get that scanned and wear it now,_" Jade says. "_Wait here for a minute. I'll go and get the hair accessory that goes with it._" She walks off and returns a few minutes later with a hair pin embellished with a large sakura flower made of silk. She slides it into the side of my hair as Mum pulls it over my right shoulder. I stand awkwardly and uncomfortably as they fiddle with my hair and make me 'pretty'.

When they're done, Mum looks me up and down. Realising something, she gasps.

"_You can't wear leather boots with a dress!_" she exclaims. I sigh. Jade smiles. It's clear she loves fashion and making people look nice.

"_My feet are size English size six._" I say. Jade nods and bounds off to find a pair of shoes.

"_You know, Korin, I'm proud of you. I never expected to be able to get you to wear a dress. You actually don't look as boyish as I thought you would._" Mum says. I nod.

"_I'm going to get my clothes out of the changing room._" I say. Mum nods, and I go back into the changing room and scoop up my clothes in my arms. I come back out, and Jade is grinning and holding up a pair of pale pink strappy shoes with slight heels.

"_Try these on. They look good with the dress._" I take the shoes from her and slip them on. They fit as well as any would be able to fit my feet, which are different sizes and a weird shape that means that shoes are generally awkward and uncomfortable for me. "_Are you going to buy them?_" I nod. Jade rips off the labels. "_Get the labels scanned and ask for a bag to put your other clothes in._"

"_Thank you so much. I never would have been able to get Korin into a dress without your help._" Mum says.

"_No problem. Glad to be of assistance!_" Jade says. Mum and I make our way to the checkouts.

"_Shall we just get those, or do you want the other dresses I was going to get you to try?_" Mum asks. I wrinkle my nose.

"_One dress is more than enough._" I say. Mum nods.

"_Well, it's a start, at least._" she says. We buy the dresses and leave the shop, Mum's purse considerably lighter than it was before.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter Twenty

I lay in the early November mid-morning sun, staring at the sky and listening to the gentle strumming of a guitar. Mariko and Satsuki are beside me, Mariko tapping her feet against the ground in time with the guitar, and Satsuki playing Fire Emblem: Awakening on her 3DS. Hanako lays on her front, playing Pokémon with a smile. Yuki sits chatting to Juro, a Ningyo on 'foreign relations' from a Yokai clan in Shingu. The two seem to get along well, though something about Juro is unsettling. Not the way his lip curled in disgust when he was introduced to me, a mere _human_, or the patronising way he talks to Hanako, or the way he broke Mariko's glasses, meaning I had to go and buy her a new pair, or even the way he set fire to the book Bunko was reading. Those are the things that make me despise him, though none of them unsettle me. What unsettles me is how familiar he seemed from the first moment I saw him, and the way he looked shocked and, momentarily, like a rabbit caught in a car's headlights when he first saw me. What unsettles me is that I know him, and he knows me, but I don't know where we know each other from. Juro strums his guitar as he talks to Yuki, his almost hypnotic voice washing over her. She's blind to the fact that he's a total dickhead, purely because he's a Ningyo, a merman, and Yuki has 'always had a thing for for fish butts', as Satsuki told us when Juro first arrived.

"_I can't believe Yuki still hasn't noticed what a total jerk he is._" Mariko whispers to me in English. I nod.

"_I reckon he'd get on well with Jase._" I say. Mariko nods, her blue eyes wide with agreement.

"_And that idiot onmyoji boy. You know, the one with glasses._" I frown at the way she insults Satoshi.

"_Satoshi's not an idiot. When we were in the hot springs village, I accidentally gave away Hanako's identity. He could have killed her, but he didn't. Instead, he told us to be more careful and gave Hanako her 3DS back._" I say, and Mariko raises her eyebrows with a smirk.

"_Do I detect a hint of Satorin?_" she asks, "_I ship it._" I roll my eyes.

"_Honestly, you're as bad as Megumi sometimes._" I say as a shadow blocks out my sunlight.

"What are you two talking about in a foreign language? If you have something to say, please share it with all of us." Juro says coldly. I sit up. I can see Satsuki behind him mimicking everything he does and pulling faces. It takes all of my self control to hold back my laughter. Juro glares darkly at me. "What is it that you find so amusing, girl?"

"Nothing, Juro-san." I say with a smile, trying to hide how much I hate him because I know that he's much stronger than me.

"Please use the correct honorific when speaking to someone superior to you." he orders.

"Sorry, Juro-sama." I say. Yuki places her hand on Juro's shoulder.

"I apologise for Korin-chan's rudeness, Juro-kun. She only moved to Japan in August. In England, they do not use honorifics." she says gently.

"Of course, and she is only young, even for a human," Juro says mildly, his voice softening until it becomes flawlessly melodic. Yuki's eyes seem to glaze over as he speaks. "I am sorry. I forgot that the culture you were raised in is very different from in Japan. You will learn more about the way things work in our noble land in time." he says to me. I nod, completely unconvinced by his words and filled with even more loathing than before.

"I'm terribly sorry, Juro-sama," Satsuki says with politeness that anyone who knows her can tell is fake, "But Korin-chan doesn't speak Japanese fluently yet. She needs to speak in English to Mariko-chan sometimes so that she doesn't get too stressed about the linguistic barrier." She says. Juro nods. I turn to look at Mariko.

"_Please let me call Satoshi and get him to end this jerk for us._" I beg her. She shakes her head with a light laugh.

"_We can't kill someone who's been sent to form an alliance, Korin-chan._" she says, as though talking to a toddler. "_However much I want to end him in the slowest and most agonisingly painful way possible, it would cause a war that we really wouldn't be able to win right now._" Juro taps his foot on the ground, clearly irritated by the fact that Mariko and I are continuing to speak in English.

"I must say, though, that I despise the English language." he says. It occurs to me that I should see what he thinks of Romanian or Greek, but I decide against it. From the look on Mariko's face, she's clearly thinking something along the same lines. We've discovered that when she speaks Latin and I speak Romanian, we can sort of understand each other, or at least what the other is trying to get across. Bunko's eyes flit nervously between Mariko and Juro. Naturally, she's sensible enough to avoid speaking in front of Juro as much as possible. She doesn't want him to destroy any more of her books.

"That's a horrible thing to say. It isn't Korin-nee-chan's fault that English is her first language. She isn't insulting you, so you have no right to insult her." Hanako says sharply, switching off her 3DS and putting it in her pocket. Juro's eyes flash with anger and cruelty, and for a moment I'm afraid that he's going to kill Hanako on the spot. He knows he can, because the Yokai here aren't in a position to fight. He can do whatever he wants to whoever he wants, and no one can do anything about it. I hate it, and I hate that he's endangering my friends and my family and the entire village. I hate that he has so much power that he can even make Yuki blind to his true self. I hate that he thinks he can treat me like I'm worthless just because I'm human. Most of all, though, I hate that I'm powerless to stop him.

Hanako stands and stares Juro down without wavering. I've never seen her look so angry. Mariko's hair bursts out of the hair tie holding it in a high ponytail and lengthens, stretching out and knotting together to form a shield around me. Satsuki raises her fingers to her mouth, preparing to fight. Bunko clenches her fist and a layer of frost forms around it, glinting silver-white in the sun. Yuki seems to be completely oblivious to what's going on around her. I take my phone out of my pocket and begin to scroll through my contacts to send Satoshi a message asking for help when the sound of something crashing through the undergrowth startles us. Everyone turns to the source of the sound.

"Kirin-sama!" Mariko cries. The Kirin comes over to us. It presses its head against my chest and I feel a reassuring warmth spread through my body, easing my concern and making me feel numb. The Kirin lets out a soft whinny. I don't understand it, but I can tell what it's trying to tell me. _We won't let any harm come to you_. I smile at it. It bows its head at me and walks towards Juro. It digs its horns into the soft earth and the grass begins to grow insanely high. It tangles around everyone, wrapping us in tight embraces, coiling so close to my skin that it digs painfully into my skin and tickles my nose. I gasp, preparing for more grass-inflicted pain, but none comes.

I am completely free of all feeling. Am I dead? I realise that I've closed my eyes at some point- when, I don't know. I let them open. I'm not dead. I'm surrounded by my Yokai friends, and the Kirin seems to be drawing power, because everything is tinted with a grass-green glow, strongest and most concentrated nearest to the Kirin. The grass has all returned to its normal length. Bunko is shaking. Satsuki looks more grateful than I've ever seen anyone. Mariko has her arm across in front of me, ready to protect me. Hanako is still glaring furiously at Juro. Yuki is on her knees, breathing heavily, sweating profusely. Her eyes are glazed as she stares longingly at Juro. She's confused, she doesn't know what's going on. She doesn't understand why a fight has broken out. I want to go to her, but my muscles won't obey. They are heavy, and even trying to raise my hand is as difficult as if I am wading through golden syrup after running a marathon. I stare straight ahead, not daring to blink in case I can't open my eyes again. Juro has a ball of water forming in his right hand and a smirk on his face. He doesn't look the same way he did before, though, now. His black hair had lengthened so that it reaches his waist, and his honey-gold skin is now smattered with scales of green, blue and gold that glitter and shine brightly even through the green haze coming from the Kirin's power. My heart beats so hard and fast that its powerful thudding echoes through my head, penetrating deep into my skull and throbbing throughout my entire body.

A large bird- tinted grass green by the light- swoops down and digs its razor-sharp talons into my shoulders. I cry out in pain as the bird lifts me into the air. I squeeze my eyes tight shut to stop myself from looking down, but I can't. My eyes snap open and fix on my friends. My feet are off the ground. Fear rises inside me. My breathing quickens. My heart pounds in my throat. My stomach performs somersaults. Beads of sweat roll down my cheeks, mixing with salty tears.

Every muscle in my body tenses.

I can't move.

I can't think.

I can't feel.

I can't breathe.

Finally, finally, the bird descends, dropping down rapidly until my feet are back on the ground. I collapse, shuddering, onto my knees. Someone takes my hand in their own.

"Korin-chan, can you hear me?" someone asks, though it sounds far off and fuzzy. Everything is fuzzy. The pain running through my shoulders and down my back is almost unbearable, and I feel as if something has been ripped out of my skin and drawn through every layer of my body. Something- a hand, I think- enters the pocket of my jeans and leaves moments later. Something is shoved roughly into my mouth and, as I gasp for air, each breath gradually becomes easier. "It's okay, Korin-chan. You're safe. You're okay. No one's going to hurt you. You're fine." I scrunch up my face. The voice is familiar. I know it well. It's soft. It's gentle. It reassures and calms me slightly.

Slightly.

I try to speak, to let them know I'm okay, but my words come out as a strangled cry. I feel myself being lifted off of the ground and I scream.

I don't mean to.

I don't want to.

They'll worry.

I don't want them to worry.

Their strong arms clasp me tight against them, and I feel the warmth and humanity of their skin, hear the soft pant of their breath, smell the delicate fragrance of cherry blossoms that the gentle breeze wafts from their skin towards me.

"Shh… Don't worry, Korin-chan. I've got you. You're safe now." I sob and shudder into the crook of their neck. I wrap my arms around them and clasp my hands together behind them, using every ounce of effort I can muster to pull myself closer into them. Something beats a rapid rhythm, gradually getting louder and nearer. A voice, female, speaks. The words are unclear. Everything is unclear. The world is a blur of colours. I can't make anything out. My skin tingles. My vision blurs further. I allow my eyes to close. I succumb to unconsciousness, my pulse throbbing in my veins and in my mind.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter Twenty-One

I peel my eyes open, tearing away at the dried tears sticking them like superglue, and am met by the same barrenness that has flooded through me in the echoing silence since I regained the ability to feel things. I try to push myself upright, but my muscle scream in protest. I gasp in pain. My throat is dry and scratchy, but my arm refuses to pick up the glass of water on the bedside table. I cough twice.

"_I-is anyone th-there?_" I call out as loudly as I can. The words come out as no more than a hoarse whisper. A heavy, rhythmic, _thud, thud, thud_ grows louder and the door swings open. Takeshi bursts into the room and comes over to me. He breathes a sigh of relief and helps me to sit up.

"Do you want water, Korin-chan." he asks, picking up the glass.

"Yes, please." I croak out. He holds the glass to my mouth and tips it up slightly, just enough for the water to flow down my parched throat. Once the glass is empty, he places it back on the bedside table and sits down on the bed beside me.

"How do you feel? What hurts?" he asks, taking my hand in his and rubbing it gently. He reaches up and brushes a strand of hair out of my eyes.

"N-nothing. I'm fine." I lie. Takeshi raises his eyebrows.

"If you don't tell me, I can't help you." he says.

"What happened?" I ask, and Takeshi sighs.

"I should have known you'd ask," he stops and coughs for a few seconds, "I don't know the full story, but I was going to get some food shopping for my parents when I felt a massive aura radiating from something in the forest. I looked in the direction of the aura and saw that there was some massive earth magic happening, but there was more than just that. It was obvious that there was either a fight or someone was being attacked by a Yokai. I sent one of my Shikigami out to check what was happening and rescue any humans. She brought you back. You were in a bad way," He shudders at the memory. "You were terrified, and whatever I tried, nothing could calm you down. I brought you back here, and you passed out on the way. Puked on me, too."

I wince, "Oh my God! I'm so sorry!" I say. Takeshi shakes his head.

"It's fine, Korin-chan. All that matters is that you're okay. It was a really old top, anyway. I was planning on giving it to a charity shop. Korin-chan, what you saw was definitely a Kirin. Not many people witness their earth magic at close range and survive. I felt light-headed and shaky from the distance I was from it. The fact that you survived… Either you're stronger than any onmyoji, or you've done something to truly gain the trust of every Yokai in that forest."

"You've got to be kidding…" I say, grabbing hold of my head. It's throbbing from all of the information and the flood of memories it's triggered. Takeshi grins.

"Nope. Which just happens to be why my parents decided that Megumi, Satoshi and I should train you up a bit. None of us can wait to see what you can do."

The door swings open and smashes against the wall.

"I thought I heard people talking in here!" Satoshi screams. I wince and cover my ears. Satoshi blushes. "Sorry, Korin-chan." I wave my hand nonchalantly.

"It's fine, Satoshi-kun" I say. "What's this about you guys training me?" Satoshi grins and pushes his glasses up his nose.

"You're obviously really strong and powerful, because there's absolutely _no way_ you could have gained the trust of _every single Yokai in the entire forest_, so we're going to whip you into shape and teach you to be a great onmyoji." he says, and his voice drips with sarcasm at certain parts. Takeshi looks slightly confused.

"Why did you say that there's no way she could have gained the Yokais' trust in that tone?" he asks. Satoshi shakes his head.

"No reason. It just seems like the sort of stupid thing she'd somehow manage to do." he says lightheartedly. I roll my eyes at his obvious reference to Hanako. My stomach growls loudly and I realise how hungry I am.

"Satoshi-kun… Please can you get me some food?" I ask. Satoshi nods.

"I think we've got some leftover ramen from last night. I'll reheat it." he says, and runs out to cook. Takeshi raises his eyebrows at me.

"Why did he say what he said in that tone?" Takeshi asks. I shrug.

"I honestly have no idea." I say. He shakes his head.

"There is definitely something you two aren't telling me. I will find out what it is." he says suspiciously. I roll my eyes.

Satoshi comes back into the room, carrying a steaming bowl of ramen.

"Budge up." he says to Takeshi, and he obliges. Satoshi sits down and begins to pick up noodles with a pair of chopsticks, blows on them and brings them to my mouth.

"I'm perfectly capable of eating myself." I say, trying to take the bowl and chopsticks from him. He shakes his head.

"Not a chance, Korin-chan. I'm not letting someone who's been unconscious for more than forty-eight hours have control of a bowl containing a hot liquid. You'll spill it." he says, and shoves the noodles into my mouth.

He feeds me for about ten minutes, until the bowl is empty. Partway through my meal, Takeshi has a coughing fit and leaves to get some fresh air.

"He still thinks he owes you, Korin-chan," Satoshi says as soon as Takeshi's left the room. "For how you helped him on the orienteering trip, even though he'd been a total prat before then. That's why he's so much nicer than he was when you first met him. There's someone outside of the family that he can open up to."

"Why would he owe me?" I ask, "He saved me the other day, and I never asked him to repay me in any way for orienteering."

"He got an earful from our parents, too. They said that there have only ever been two people born with the strength to survive a Kirin's earth magic, and they've both started wars between the Yokai and onmyoji in their area. All of the others have been children and teenagers, usually girls, who have helped a powerful Yokai in some way and gained their trust. My parents don't think that those who fraternise with Yokai deserve to live," he explains. I raise my eyebrows. "I want to know what we're dealing with here."

I laugh nervously and try to think of a way to avoid answering.

"It's the second, isn't it?" Satoshi asks. I nod. "Typical Korin-chan. Only you would be able to do something as stupid and unlikely as that. What did you even do?"

"It's kind of a long story… The first time I went into the forest, I find an injured Kirin. It had been caught in a trap of some sort. I went and got a bandage roll and got it out of the trap and then bandaged the wound." I explain. Satoshi laughs out loud.

"You did what? I'm sorry, but I think I must have misheard you. You cannot be serious." he says, shaking his head. He wipes tears of mirth from his eyes.

His head whips around towards the door and his laughter stops.

"You know it's rude to eavesdrop." he says coldly, darker than I've ever heard him. The door opens and Ezra comes in.

"I-I'm sorry. I wanted to see how Korin was doing. One of my friends is worried about her, too." he whispers. Satoshi's face softens.

"It's fine, Ezra-kun. I just thought that it was my idiot brother listening in, and I don't want to see how he would react to what we were talking about." I grimace at the thought of Takeshi finding out that I'd befriended Yokai. Ezra smiles slightly and comes across the room to me. He sits down opposite Satoshi and reaches his hand out to mine.

"How are you doing, Kor?" he asks softly. I nod with a smile.

"I'm fine. Really." Ezra doesn't look convinced. I change the subject. "So who's this 'friend' who's worried about me?" I ask. Ezra blushes and avoids making eye contact.

"Do you have a girlfriend, Ezra-kun?" Satoshi asks, his tone upset and his eyes filled with the sorrow of rejection.

"I-I well… I wouldn't say Mari-chan was my _girlfriend_ exactly, but… Well…"

"Is 'Mari' short for something?" I ask him, my mind instantly flicking to Mariko. Ezra blushes and nods. "Do I know her?" He makes eye contact with me for a few seconds, then nods again.

"Is she a Yokai?" Satoshi asks. Ezra's eyes widen.

"I don't know. I don't think so. But then again, she knew what happened to Korin without me telling her…"

"Is 'Mari' short for Mariko?" I ask. Ezra nods. "She was there when the attack happened, I think. I remember what happened before and a bit of what happened during it. She knew something was about to happen, so she shielded me with her hair- she's a Kejoro- and the others all got ready to fight that dickhead Juro-"

"Juro?" Satoshi asks, sounding slightly panicked. "A couple of years older than me, from Shingu?" I nod. Satoshi claws at his face, groaning and repeating the word 'no' over and over and over again, sometimes asking himself how he could be so stupid.

"You know him?" I ask. But I don't need an answer. I've realised, now, where I recognised him from. "You have got to be kidding me." I say with a disbelieving laugh. "Satoshi-kun, he's a Ningyo. He brainwashed one of the oldest and most powerful Yokai in the forest."

"He must have brainwashed me, too." Satoshi says, his face scrunched up in disgust. "Ugh… The thought of it makes me feel sick."

"I'm so confused…" Ezra says, shaking his head.

"I guess it's not as bad as Ezra, though," I say to Satoshi. His tilts his head to the side in confusion. "He's actually _dating_ a Yokai!" Ezra blushes a vibrant shade of red. I giggle.

"It's fine, Ezra-kun. Some Yokai aren't as bad as my family will try to tell you they are." Satoshi says.

"I've only ever met one that wasn't awesome." I say.

"How many Yokai do you know exactly, Korin-chan?" Satoshi asks me.

I begin counting them on my fingers, "Kirin, Hanako, Mariko, Satsuki, Bunko, Yuki, that Tsukumogami in my bedroom… And, of course, that good-for-nothing twat Juro…" I say, "That's eight." I say, holding up my hands to show my eight fingers.

"So I guess it's safe to say that seven out of eight Yokai are awesome, and the other one does not deserve to live." Satoshi says, "Or, Korin-chan has just had exceptionally good luck. Probably the latter." The three of us laugh.

"I still can't believe that Ezra has a girlfriend." I say. Ezra gives me a _Shut up, bitch,_ look. I laugh.

"I still can't believe that you're the only single one in the family, Korin!" Ezra says, "Even Xander has a girlfriend." I poke my tongue out at him.

"Is there someone you like, Korin-chan?" Satoshi asks. "If I know them, I could put in a good word for you."

"If they're a Yokai, he could threaten to exorcise them and everyone they care about." Ezra adds. Satoshi laughs at him.

"You two are such idiots. The only man I have ever loved is an anime character who died tragically." I say. Satoshi smirks.

"Necrophilia. Nice." he says. I shake my head with a sigh. "Get some rest now, Korin-chan. You need it." He forces me to lay down. He and Ezra get up and leave, letting me drift off into dreams.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter Twenty-Two

"Well, we're screwed." Satsuki says with an empty, mirthless laugh, staring at the paper in her hands.

"What happened, Satsuki-chan?" I ask.

"We injured their precious messenger, and they expect us to pay reparations. If we don't pay them ¥186 million in the next two weeks, they're going to start taking human hostages. Once they have twenty hostages, they're going to invade." she spits. Her tail flicks from side to side with anger. Honestly, it's scaring me slightly.

"You might want to try to get your family away from here for a while, Korin-chan, just to keep them safe." Bunko says. I shake my head.

"You really think they'd agree to going without me?" I ask.

"You're not staying here, Korin-chan. It's too dangerous," Mariko says. "You need to get Ezra out of here."

I roll my eyes, "Of course, you want me to get Ezra to safety." I say teasingly, "I'll see how much money I can scrape together. I can probably get some of my relatives to transfer some money into my bank account, and I'm sure that Ezra and Xander will give everything they have to keep you guys safe. Satoshi-kun might give some, too."

"Korin-chan, I doubt you'll be able to get enough money together in two weeks." Bunko says sadly, shaking her head.

"I can get a part-time job! When I went shopping with my mum the other week, the shop assistant told me that I could get a job there!" I say.

"There's a chance that even if we _do_ give them the money, they'll use it to arm themselves and invade us anyway." Bunko says. I frown.

"So, should we get the money together and use it to prepare you guys for war?" I ask. "Satoshi-kun has a soft spot for Hanako, and I'm sure that the rest of his family would rather have Yokai who don't hurt humans than bloodthirsty monsters who want to eradicate humanity." Bunko shakes her head.

"I can see that whatever I say, you're not going to agree to securing your safety, Korin-chan." she says with an exasperated sigh.

"No one messes with my friends and gets away with it." I say darkly, thinking about how much I want to rip Juro's face off. Satsuki squeezes my cheeks with a teasing smile.

"Humans are so cute when they're angry, don't you think?" she teases. I poke my tongue out at her.

"Leave her alone, Satsuki-chan. She's just trying to help." Mariko says, gently shoving Satsuki. I laugh at how weird my friends are, though I'm slightly irritated by Satsuki's teasing. She's the only one of us who has never been human, and she constantly makes jokes about how cute humans are, because we're so weak compared to Yokai. She doesn't have the superior attitude of most cats, though, thankfully.

"Okay, okay. Fine. You're a great friend, Korin-chan. Like, seriously. Bruh, that's legit." Satsuki says, and we all laugh as her signature phrase makes an appearance.

"Should I start a fundraiser to help you guys get the money together?" I ask. "If we have the onmyoji on our side, we have an advantage, right?" Mariko nods.

"Yeah! Of course! If you can convince your friends to fight, we might be able to take them!" she says excitedly, her eyes glittering behind her glasses.

"They've already decided that they're going to train me." I say. "They think that I might be really strong, because I survived Kirin's earth magic." Bunko laughs.

"That's generally more of a trust thing. The more we trust you, the more likely you are to survive." she says.

"A few powerful onmyoji have survived, but most were killed within a few seconds of being exposed to it." Satsuki says. She frowns. "I remember the last one. He was awful. Had something against Yuki-Onnas, killed all but two of them. Well, of course there are more now," she stares pointedly at Bunko, "But it's not quite the same. Those few years were some of the best of my life. There were no onmyoji around, but the humans didn't want or need them. We could mix freely as friends with the villagers, and no one cared if someone was human or Yokai. There were a lot of halflings born then, because people simply didn't care about species." She smiles as she speaks.

"A halfling is a child born to a human and a Yokai." Bunko informs me.

"I kind of guessed, considering that makes them _half_ human and _half _Yokai." I say. My phone buzzes in my pocket. I take it out and see that I have a text from Satoshi.

_U w/ the Yokai?_ he has asked me.

I send beck _Yup! Got something to ask you when I get back_. After about thirty seconds, I get a text back.

_Im on my way now. C u in a minute._

"Satoshi-kun is on his way here. I think he wants to talk about something." I say.

"We can ask him if he's willing to help us!" Mariko says excitedly. I nod with a grin.

After about ten minutes of waiting in anxious silence, Satoshi arrives.

"Wow," he says, "This isn't quite what I had in mind." Mariko raises her eyebrows.

"What did you have in mind?" she asks him. He shrugs.

"Most of the Yokai I've fought over the years have been the sort who would never be able to pass for humans. Apart from the Bake-Neko over there, you could all go into human civilisations and no one would be suspicious." he says. I introduce everyone to him.

"You wouldn't happen to be willing to help us with something, would you, Satoshi-san?" Satsuki asks. Satoshi frowns.

"Depends on what it is." he says.

"Your bedfellow's friends are threatening to invade," I tell him. "If these guys don't pay them ¥186 million in the next two weeks." Satoshi cringes upon hearing the word 'bedfellow'.

"It was one time, and I didn't know he was a Yokai. Shut up, Korin-chan." he says. I laugh and shove him gently. He pokes his tongue out at me.

"Guys! This is a serious matter. Regardless of what we do, people are going to die. We need to figure out what will have the least casualties." Bunko yells, her voice rising in both volume and pitch as she speaks. Satsuki brings her fingers to her mouth, preparing for Bunko to lose it.

"Yeah. Sorry, Bunko-chan." Satoshi says, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. She glares at him.

"I can see what Mariko-chan meant about you using honorifics too familiarly." she says.

"Sorry, Bunko-san." Satoshi corrects himself. "Most girls don't mind."

"It's because you're an attractive male." I point out. Satoshi grins at me.

"I'm glad you think so, Korin-chan." he says.

I wrinkle my nose, "You're not my type."

"Nor are you mine, as you well know." I laugh at him. He digs his hand into his pocket and pulls out a packet of chewy sweets. "Does anyone want one? I usually save them for when my brother's around, just to annoy him." Everyone sticks their hand out for a sweet.

"Why would sweets annoy your brother, Satoshi-kun?" Satsuki asks. Satoshi gives a creepy smile.

"He can't have them because of his braces." We all laugh at what a horrible brother Satoshi is.

"That's cruel, Satoshi-kun," I say, shaking my head. "Does Takeshi-kun know that that's why you always eat them around him?" Satoshi nods.

"Of course he does. He's waiting for the day when he gets his braces off so that he can have sweets and fizzy drinks again." I wrinkle up my nose.

"I will never understand why anyone would want to drink that fizzy muck. It's vile." I say. Satsuki gasps.

"How can you say such a thing, Korin-chan?" she asks. "Inconceivable!" I raise my eyebrows at her.

"Do you really like them that much?" I ask. She nods. I shudder. "They're disgusting." Satsuki's response to my comment is to bitch slap me with her tail. Satoshi starts laughing.

"This is so not how I'd imagined it." he says. "My parents always portrayed Yokai as evil little shits with no personalities and the combined sense of humour of a teaspoon. But you guys…" He lets out a bark of laughter and leans against my shoulder. "You guys are hilarious!"

"It's not that funny," I say, nursing my cheek, "That hurt."

"Hit her with your plait, Korin-chan!" Mariko says, spinning around and letting her hair cut through the air around her like a whip. "It's probably almost as strong as mine." I giggle.

"Let's try it out!" I say, staring at Satoshi with a maniacal glint in my eye.

"Oh God, no. Please, no. I'm fine with strong women and all, but don't hurt me. I know I'm just a puny little man, but please, let me live!" Satoshi jokes, grabbing hold of my plait and splitting the end in two. He holds it to his face to use it as a moustache.

"H-hold still, Satoshi-kun!" Mariko says between fits of giggles. She takes out her phone and fiddles with it for a few seconds, before there is a click and a flash as she takes a photo. "One for Snapchat." she says. Satoshi grimaces.

"You've got Ezra on there, right?" he says. I laugh as Mariko nods.

"Yeah. Why?" She sounds suspicious and her eyes narrow.

"N-no reason." Satoshi says, his voice rising about three octaves. I smile creepily and waggle my eyebrows. "Shut up, Korin-chan!" Satoshi says, dropping my hair and shoving me gently.

"I didn't say a word." I say, raising my hands.

"You inferred it." he says.

"Will someone please just tell us what's going on?" Bunko asks, looking confused. I giggle. Bunko and confusion are not two things I would have imagined going together. Mariko clicks her fingers.

"Stop trying to steal my boyfriend, Satoshi-kun." she says. I giggle.

"I ship Satoshra." I whisper. Mariko frowns.

"I don't. I ship Ezriko." she says.

"I don't ship either because I've never met Ezra!" Satsuki sings cheerfully. I laugh. "I do ship Satorin, though." she says thoughtfully. I roll my eyes.

"He's not interested in my gender and I'm not interested in his. Somehow, I don't see that working." I say with a laugh. Satoshi grins at me.

"Sounds like the sort of thing that would have happened in an arranged marriage centuries ago." he says. Satsuki nods.

"I've known a few people that's happened to." Satoshi raises his eyebrows at her.

"How old are you, exactly?" he asks.

"Let's just say I was one of the first of my kind, and when I first came here, the Kirin that everyone now worships as our leader was only a few weeks old." she says. Satoshi gapes at her, open mouthed.

"Wow. You're old." he says. Mariko slaps him gently.

"You really have no more tact than you did when you were a kid, Satoshi-kun." she says. Satoshi frowns at her.

"How do you know what I was like when I was a kid?" he asks, then claps his hand to his mouth, swearing loudly. "Mariko was your name when you were alive, too, wasn't it? You were Suzumiya Mariko. You lived next door to me. Oh my God… Is it really you, Mari-chan?" Mariko nods with a sad smile. Satoshi bursts into tears and wraps his arms around Mariko. I stare at them, stunned. Mariko is clearly surprised, too, but after a couple of seconds she smiles and hugs him back.

"Thank you, Korin-chan." Mariko says with tears of joy in her eyes. I smile at her, glad that I was able to reunite them.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter Twenty-Three

I sigh as I sort the money into piles. ¥120,000 in ¥10,000 notes, ¥30,000 in ¥5,000 notes, ¥84,000 in ¥2,000 notes and ¥114,000 in ¥1,000 notes, as well as a pile of coins. I sigh. Even without working out the total, I know that it's nowhere near enough. It isn't even ¥1 million, and we need ¥186 million by tomorrow. I groan and decide to count the coins to find the total. Of course, I knew it was going to be difficult to get so much money together in two weeks. ¥186 million is over £1 million. We've currently got about £2000 worth of yen. I feel a solitary tear roll down my cheek, and I lose it. I start sobbing and trembling uncontrollably. I've done everything I can, sold things, begged my grandparents, done odd jobs for money… I even sang in a pub, with Satoshi doing a guitar accompaniment. But it still isn't enough. We still don't have enough, and the deadline is tomorrow. They're going to start taking hostages, and it's my fault. I wasn't good enough to help them. I couldn't save them.

The door opens and someone comes over, pulling me into a tight embrace.

"Okay, Korin-chan. It's going to be okay. Everyone's going to be fine." Satoshi says, burying his face in my hair and rubbing my back.

"W-what if they're not? What if people get hurt or killed?" I ask, "It's all my fault…"

"No it's not. Don't ever blame something like this on yourself. This is Juro's fault, all of it." he says reassuringly. I'm not convinced.

"Tomorrow is the day they start taking hostages. They're going to take twenty people. Any one of those could be someone I care about. I will probably know all of them. Some will be in my class. One will probably be related to me. What if they take my dad, or any of the other adults that hold the community together?" Satoshi pulls away from the hug slightly and stares into my eyes.

"We'll be fine. You'll see. My parents have been in contact with relatives from all over the country. There are about twenty onmyoji arriving over the next few days." he tells me. "We're all going to work together- me and my family and the Yokai- and we're going to save the village and all of our friends and even the people we don't like." He nods. "That's right, Korin-chan. Everything's going to be fine." He keeps nodding as though he's waiting for me to nod. I do so, and he smiles at me. He pulls me back into a hug. "Your family will be fine. Megumi's putting up wards around your house."

"What about your family?"

Satoshi raises his eyebrows at me, "You think they would be stupid enough to take an onmyoji hostage?"

"They might think that Takeshi-kun would be weak because of his condition." I say.

"If they do that, they will be in for a massive shock. He's still at least twice as strong as me and Megumi combined. He will utterly annihilate them." he says, "In fact, I reckon that we don't even need an army of combined onmyoji and Yokai forces. We have an Akiyama Takeshi. He's a prodigy, you know. He took out more Yokai by the time he was ten than I have in my whole life." My jaw drops and my eyes widen. Satoshi smiles kindly at me. "Takeshi has a soft spot for you. He's been much more like his old self- cheerful and carefree- since he opened up to you. He would protect you with his life." I let a small smile find its way onto my face.

"I'm glad I could make a difference." I whisper. Satoshi smiles at me.

"I'll go and make you a coffee. I'll be back in a minute."

As Satoshi leaves the room, Megumi barges past him. She comes over to me.

"You're not seriously still trying to get the money together, are you, Korin-chan?" she asks. I nod. "There's no need. It won't stop them from attacking." Her tone isn't as cheerful as usual. She sounds tired, and looks just as bad. Her hair is pulled back in a high ponytail and there are dark circles under her eyes, poorly covered by makeup that doesn't match her skin tone, mainly because she doesn't usually wear makeup. She's paler than usual, too, and she's lost weight.

"It might," I say. "If we don't give them the money, they'll take civilian hostages. You saw the letter. Their messenger attacked us and we fought back, but they only cared about his side of the story. They want revenge. If we let them take hostages, who knows what they'll do to them? There are so many young children in the village. I-I don't want anyone to get hurt." Megumi shakes her head.

"We're heading into a war. This is exactly what happens every time someone survives a Kirin's earth magic." she snaps. Tears begin to trace their solemn paths down my cheeks. Megumi, the first person I spoke to after coming here, the first friend I ever made, thinks that everything that's happening is my fault.

Satoshi comes back into the room.

"Megumi, what did you do?" he asks, glaring darkly at his sister. "I actually got her to calm down, and then you came a long and messed it up." He shoves a mug of steaming black coffee into my hands. "You take it black with no sugar, right?" he checks, and I nod, smiling weakly at him. He smiles sympathetically at me.

"All I did was say that trying to get the money together is pointless because there's going to be a war anyway. There always is when a human witnesses earth magic and lives." Megumi says.

Satoshi snorts, "There would have been one anyway. The earth magic was aimed at the messenger, so whatever happened there was going to be a war. I'm pretty sure they only sent the messenger in the first place so that they could find an excuse to invade." he says. I sip my coffee, drawing in air with it so that I don't burn my mouth.

"Stop shouting, you shits!" someone yells. The three of us turn to the doorway and see Takeshi staring at us, his hands on his hips. He looks like he's about to start sassing us. Satoshi bursts out laughing, and it takes me a few seconds to realise why. Takeshi is wearing nothing but a pair of boxers, which seem to be on back-to-front. I giggle and he walks across the room towards me.

"What are you wearing, Takeshi-kun?" I ask him. He shrugs.

"Not much," he says. "You jealous of my boobs? They're bigger than yours." I roll my eyes. Satoshi snorts.

"Did you actually just say that, Takeshi?" he asks in disbelief. Takeshi nods. "You can't tell a girl that you have bigger boobs than her!"

"I just did, and honesty's the best policy" Takeshi says. I laugh, but Megumi doesn't seem amused.

"You have got to be the most moronically stupid person I have ever has the misfortune of knowing, Takeshi." she says bitterly. Takeshi's smile melts away and his eyes fill with concern.

"Are you okay, Meg?" he asks, reaching out and putting his hand on her shoulder. "There must be a reason why you've been getting so worked up recently. Are you ill?" Megumi shrugs Takeshi's hand off and shakes her head.

"I'm fine. Leave me alone. I'm going to go and train." she says, and storms out of the room. Takeshi looks like he's about to cry, and Satoshi is chewing his lip worriedly. A silent tear rolls down my cheek. I hate the fact that my friends are miserable and I'm powerless to help them. Whatever I do, it's never enough.

"Sh-should I go after her?" I ask. Takeshi shakes his head.

"She needs space to cool off. You'll only put yourself in danger if you try to talk to her while she's angry." he says softly, taking my hand and giving it a gentle squeeze. "She can look after herself. She'll be fine once she's calmed down a bit." He sounds like he's trying to convince himself, though. I nod, swallowing hard and wiping my eyes.

"Come on, Korin-chan. We'll teach you a new technique if you're feeling up to it." Satoshi says, plastering a fake smile on his face and grinning at me. I nod.

"Yeah, that sounds like fun." I say, giving him a small smile in return. Takeshi takes my coffee cup and Satoshi reaches out his hands to help me stand. Takeshi coughs hard for a few seconds.

"I think I'm going to go and put some clothes on." he says. "And turn my underwear the right way round." I laugh at him.

"Idiot." I say, and he pokes his tongue out at me.

"Error 404: Maturity not found." Satoshi says, shoving Takeshi's head playfully. I laugh as Takeshi leaves the room and I see the hole in the back of his boxers which puts his butt on display. A shocked yell followed by maniacal laughter signals that Ezra has crossed paths with Takeshi. Satoshi and I stare at each other for a few seconds before bursting out laughing.

The two of us make our way out of the house and across to the Akiyamas' house where we wait for Takeshi. He comes out still in his boxers, but at least now he's wearing shoes.

"What?" he asks upon seeing the looks on Satoshi and my faces. "Shoes are clothes. I've got socks on, too. I couldn't find a bra that fitted me, though, because yours are all too small, Korin-chan." I frown at with, a small laugh escaping my lips.

"You're such a weirdo, Takeshi." Satoshi says, shaking his head. He's definitely laughing, though.

Takeshi gestures for us to move out of the way, and we do. He takes three large steps and throws himself into the air, somersaulting over the fence and landing on his hands. He stays on his hands for a few seconds before swinging his legs down and pulling himself upright.

"Bloody show off." Satoshi mutters.

"Love you too, Onii-chan!" Takeshi says, smiling innocently. He turns to me, "How totes kawaii was that?" he asks. I nod.

"Totes. Totes kawaii." I say sarcastically, though I'm actually impressed.

"You'll be able to do that one day, Korin-chan." he says. I shake my head.

"No I won't. I do nothing that involves having my feet off the ground." I say. Takeshi pulls an apologetic face.

"Oh, God. The other week, I had a Shikigami carry you through the air… That made it worse, didn't it?" he says quietly. When I don't respond, he hugs me. "I didn't know you were scared of heights! Please don't hate me!" I pat his head.

"I don't hate you, Takeshi-kun. You're just a mild annoyance sometimes." I say.

"Are we actually going to get any training done?" Satoshi asks. "The neighbors are starting to stare at you, Takeshi." I look around. In almost every window, there is someone staring at us. the majority seem to be slightly confused.

"Yeah… I think we should probably do some actual physical training now, rather than endurance training." I say. Satoshi frowns at me in confusion. "Takeshi-kun is testing my ability to endure uncomfortable situations. He knows I hate being hugged, but he continues to do it anyway." Takeshi pulls away from the hug.

"Sorry, Korin-chan. I won't do it again," he says with a smirk, "Probably." I roll my eyes with a laugh, and the three of us go through to their garden to train.


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter Twenty-Four

I push through the gathering crowd to try and see what's going on. When I reach the point where I have a clear view, I gasp. There on the ground is a rag doll, drenched crimson with blood that drips from it as one of the visiting onmyoji lifts it up in disgust.

"Does anyone know who this toy belongs to?" he asks, his voice bitter and cold. No one comes forward, and it's no wonder. At six foot five, the onmyoji from Urausu is terrifying to behold. His muscles are large and toned and his face looks as though it has been smashed to pieces multiple times. "I have reason to believe that this toy belongs to the first hostage to be taken." The crowd seems to be circulating as people mind out of the way to let new people to the front to identify the toy, until a scream fills my ears. A blonde woman runs to the onmyoji and grabs desperately at his shirt.

"P-please, sir… That doll… It's my daughter's… Please find her… She's only five…" she cries in a Canadian accent. "Kaede… My little Kaede…" The onmyoji grimaces. Someone grabs my hand.

"What's going on, Korin-chan? Has the first hostage been taken?" I turn and nod at Takeshi.

"A five year old girl." I say. Takeshi looks deeply troubled- even more so than I would have expected- as he stares at the mother of little Kaede.

"That woman's daughter? Yoshida Kaede?" Takeshi asks. I nod. He frowns deeply. "Kaede's diabetic… She'll get really ill if we don't rescue her soon." I gasp and my hand involuntarily goes to my mouth. With every second that passes, the situation seems to get worse, and the guilt weighing down on me gets heavier.

"It's all my-"

"If you say that it's your fault one more time, I will knock you out and keep you tied up until either all of this is over or you can stop blaming yourself for something that isn't your fault." Takeshi says sternly.

"Takeshi-sama," the onmyoji man holding Kaede's rag doll says. "Come here a moment, please." Takeshi nods. He steps out in front of the man and scowls darkly. The man seems to cower under Takeshi's glare, which almost makes me want to laugh because of the massive size difference. The man is gargantuan with solid muscles bulging out of his tight shirt, while Takeshi is barely five foot two and chubby. It's so strange to see that it's almost funny, and I'm sure that I would find it hilarious under any other circumstances. Takeshi coughs into his hand, and the man reaches out one of his massive paws to place on Takeshi's shoulder. Takeshi side-steps to avoid it.

"I'm fine, Ryo-san." Takeshi says. The man, Ryo, doesn't seem convinced.

"Takeshi-sama, you should rest if you are going to be able to fight. Without you, anything we do will be useless." he says. Takeshi shakes his head.

"One of my friends recently witnessed a Kirin's earth magic. She would be perfectly capable of fighting if she chose to." he says. He glances over his shoulder and shoots me a teasing look. Ryo follows Takeshi's line of sight and makes eye contact with me.

"Surely that girl can't be the friend you speak of," he says, "She clearly has no onmyoji heritage." Takeshi nods.

"That is true. Very true," he says, and in that moment I know that he's going to make something up based on what he knows about my family. "But her mother is Greek, and likely descended from a powerful god or goddess. A Deity's Ichor runs in her veins." It takes all of my self control not to laugh at Takeshi's story. It's so stupid that there's no way Ryo would believe it.

"Very well. I will tell the others of her, but she will need to prove herself before she can gain my trust." he says. I bite my lip. He can't seriously believe that I'm descended from a god! Takeshi nods politely at Ryo and comes back over to me. He drags me away from the crowd.

"Oh my God, did you hear my beautiful story?" he asks. "It was almost as beautiful as my face!" I laugh.

"I guess we're going to have to tell Satoshi and Megumi and my brothers that I'm apparently descended from the Ancient Greek Gods now." I say. Takeshi shrugs.

"Look on the bright side. Ryo-san's little brother Kichiro-san turns sixteen next month, and he's seriously buff. Ryo-san will probably get Kichiro-san to be your personal bodyguard or something." he says with a laugh.

"To be honest, I don't really want a bodyguard." I say.

"You need one. You're thick as a line from a whiteboard pen and you care about other people. You'll end up getting yourself killed if you don't stop trying to help people, Korin-chan." Takeshi says as we round the corner at the end of our road. He yawns. "I'm going to make sure you go into your house and stay there, and then I'm going to sleep because I'm sleep deprived. In fact, I'll sleep on your lap if I don't think you can be trusted to stay at home." He takes my arm and all but drags me to my house. He pauses for a few seconds so that we can take our shoes off. The sound of footsteps rings through the silence as several people run down the corridor. Ezra, Xander and Jase stop in front of us.

Jase lets out a sigh of relief, "Didn't think to tell us where you were going, Kor?" he asks. Xander runs forward and throws his arms around me.

"Next time you leave the house, please tell us where it is you're going so that we don't get so worried. We were scared that you were the first hostage." Dad says, coming round the corner. He reaches out and ruffles my hair.

"We know who the first hostage is," I say, "She's five years old." Dad beckons for us to come into the house.

"I want to keep a close eye on the four of you," he says. "You should probably get home, Takeshi-san. Your parents will be getting worried." Takeshi shakes his head.

"I can-" he coughs hard for a few seconds, "I can handle myself. Thank you for your concern, though, Belododia-sensei." Dad looks skeptically at Takeshi.

"Are you sure? That cough really doesn't sound good. You've had it for a while. You should be resting." he says. Takeshi frowns slightly.

"I don't mean to offend you, Belododia-sensei, but you're making it sound as though my cough is a badly behaved pet." I laugh at Takeshi's words. We enter the living room and sit down. Dad takes his phone out and signals for us to be quiet, because he's going to make a phone call.

"Hello, Hiroaki-kun? Yes… Yes… Yes, Takeshi-san is with us at the moment… Yes, yes. Okay. Bye!" He turns to Takeshi. "Your father wants you home by five, Takeshi-san." Takeshi nods.

"Okay. Thank you for letting me stay, Belododia-sensei." he says with a small smile.

"I'll see you lot later. I have a client in," Dad glances at his watch. "Seven minutes. Bye!" He waves and walks out of the room.

"Wake me up in an hour, Korin-chan." Takeshi says with a sigh, leaning his head against my shoulder and closing his eyes. Before I even have a chance to respond, he is snoring softly.

"_Well, it'll be awkward if I need to use the toilet._" I say. Ezra smiles at me.

"_That's such a Korin thing to say_." Jase says, shaking his head. I smile at him. He sighs sadly and checks his phone.

"_What's wrong?_" I ask him, and he shakes his head.

"_Nothing. I just haven't heard from Grethe in a few days. That's all._" I reach my hand out to him and he takes it in his own. I squeeze it and Jase gives a small smile, though tears are forming in his eyes. "_Grethe's the first girl I've ever been serious with. I mean, the first girl who I haven't got with for a laugh. She actually makes me happy. I thought I'd be able to handle a long distance relationship but… I guess I was wrong… Or maybe I did something that offended her._" I shake my head.

"_I saw the way she was looking at some of the other boys at the resort… She thought she was too good for you, but you were the only one who had a language in common with her,_" I say. "_She wanted to mess with someone. She did exactly what you always do. She's obviously just better at it than you_." Jase glares at me.

"_Thanks for being there for me, sis._" he says sarcastically, pulling his hand away. Ezra shakes his head with a laugh.

"_You have so little tact it's unbelievable, Korin. You're meant to just be kind and comforting until he's over her and _then _tell him that she played him the way he plays other girls._" he explains.

"_I've never had a brother having problems with a relationship before. You can't expect me to know what to do._"

"_Well, you're going to be learning what to do over the next few weeks as Jase recovers from his heartbreak._" Ezra says dramatically.

"_You honestly couldn't have picked a worse time to have problems with your girlfriend, Jase._" I say exasperatedly. "_Seriously, we're about to get attacked by a load of Yokai who want to take over the forest, and you're moping around because your long-distance relationship with a player isn't working out. Get a grip, moron._" That's when I know that Jase's heartbreak is serious. Instead of coming back with a snide remark about what an awful sister I am, he just sighs and puts his head in his hands, breathing heavily. I want to go over and hug him, but I can't risk disturbing Takeshi. Ezra wraps his arms around Jase and strokes his hair. Jase sobs into Ezra's shoulder, whispering 'Grethe' over and over. Seeing him so weak, so vulnerable, makes me want to cry.

Takeshi groans and his head slides off of my shoulder. His eyes snap open as his head drops, and he suddenly sits bolt upright.

"How long did I sleep for?" he asks tiredly, "I told you to wake me up after an hour, Korin-chan." I shake my head.

"It hasn't even been five minutes." I say. Takeshi looks at Jase and Ezra and frowns.

"Is Jase-san okay?" he asks me in a hushed whisper.

"He's having problems with his girlfriend." I say. Takeshi nods with a grimace.

"You should go to him." he says.

"I was going to, but I didn't want to wake you up." I say with a shrug, and crawl across the floor to my brothers. Xander is looking thoroughly confused by the situation. He shuffles over to Takeshi and whispers something in his ear. Takeshi shrugs. I'm not sure whether he doesn't have an answer to Xander's question or if he just didn't want to tell him. Xander slides across the floor and joins the three of us in our group hug. My muscles tense.

"_I'm proud of you, Korin,_" Ezra says when we pull away, "_You willingly hugged someone!_" I glare at him.

"_It's not my fault people are weird and disgusting and hugs are horrible._" I say, and Jase manages to give me a small smile.

"_You're the dumbest sister ever, but you can always make people smile with your idiocy._" he says quietly. I know that I shouldn't be happy about the comment, because he called me stupid, but the fact that my stupidity makes people happy warms my heart slightly.

"_Thanks._" I say with a light laugh.

"Feeling slightly awkward and left out over here," Takeshi says. The four of us turn to look at him and laugh. "Whatever Jase-san said, I probably don't agree." Jase rolls his eyes as the rest of us laugh some more.


End file.
